Great news for the Honolulu community and anyone concerned about clean water: The Department of Defense plans to permanently shutter the Red Hill fuel storage tanks that cumulatively hold 250 million gallons of fuel and sit just 100 feet above a major aquifer. “This is the right thing to do,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement announcing the decision. According to the Defense Secretary, “no later than May 31, the Secretary of the Navy and Director of the Defense Logistics Agency will provide an action plan for safe and expeditious defueling of the facility, with a completion date target of 12 months.”
During a press conference Monday afternoon, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby indicated that assessments will come up with a plan for what it takes to defuel Red Hill by the end of April. ”Once it’s closed, we’ll begin to work on what the land use for it looks like going forward, and obviously a key part of that is going to be making sure that whatever we do, in terms of closing down, that it’s done in an environmentally friendly way,” Kirby said. A fact sheet released by the Department of Defense includes a subheading on “Redistribution of Fuel Reserves,” which provides vague details on how fuel storage will continue in the region.
Some of those methods include afloat storage vessels that will be operated according to the Coast Guard’s safety and environmental standards. While this is certainly a victory for those fighting the Red Hill facility’s dangerous environmental impact, there will be lingering effects to come from the damage that’s already been done. As the Honolulu Civil-Beat notes, no one knows the long-term effects of using water contaminated by fuel, though certainly short-term effects have been felt by the community. Many who have finally returned to their homes after months away are still experiencing lingering problems—including dealing with black mold—and maintain a distrust of the Navy for its inability to do the right thing in the face of mounting pressure. Already, millions have been spent and $350 million more is earmarked to address the ongoing crisis.
Kirby was vague when asked about what the Navy is doing to respond to military and civilian families’ concerns and how the military will be helping them in the long term. “We owe these families our very best attention to make sure they get the medical care they need for the way in which this contamination has affected their health,” Kirby said. “We are 100% committed to that.”
What that looks like isn’t clear, and Kirby admitted that the Department of Defense would be hard-pressed to come up with an estimate on how much it would cost to continue assisting families. Similarly, there is no cost estimate on how much it will cost to get Red Hill operational again in order to defuel the facility’s fuel tanks.