The Honolulu Board of Water Supply has filed a lawsuit against the Navy after it refused to cover remediation costs following the 2021 jet fuel leak at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
BWS said its past, current and future remediation and mitigation efforts following the spill total about $1.2 billion, and it maintains that the Navy should bear that cost instead of ratepayers.
BWS Chief Engineer Ernie Lau said the lawsuit was the board's last resort to get the Navy to assume financial responsibility after contaminating Oʻahu's largest freshwater aquifer.
“ We feel that the responsible party … was the U.S. Navy with their Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, and that they should be also responsible to pay for costs related to this matter,” Lau said.
Soon after the spill, BWS shut down its Hālawa Shaft and the ʻAiea and Hālawa wells as a precautionary measure to ensure that they don't pump fuel-contaminated water into the island's water system.
“Even though we have three wells shut down — including our largest, the Hālawa shaft — we need to continue to provide water service to our community. And because of the Navy's actions, we've initiated different actions to install monitor wells, to look at new wells. Ultimately, the $1.2 billion is to replace our three wells,” Lau said.
About 19,000 gallons of jet fuel from the underground Red Hill facilities leaked into the environment.
BWS filed its initial claim in October 2023, but in January of this year, the Navy refused to pay the $1.2 billion. The board then had six months to decide if it would file a complaint in federal district court, which it did.
