EPA proposes consent order on safe closure of Navy’s Red Hill Fuel Facility

Contact Information: John Senn, 415-972-3999, senn.john@epa.gov 

SAN FRANCISCO (December 21, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is putting forward a proposed consent order with the U.S. Department of the Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) that requires steps to ensure the safe defueling and closure of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH). The proposed order will also require the Navy to properly operate and maintain the JBPHH drinking water system to protect the health and safety of its consumers. This proposed order is the latest step in EPA’s work to oversee the Navy’s response to the November 2021 fuel release from Red Hill and subsequent Department of Defense decision to close Red Hill. Read the proposed order on EPA’s website.

“This order demonstrates EPA’s commitment to protect the O’ahu aquifer from contamination,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “Our proposed order requires the Navy and DLA to safely and expeditiously defuel and close the storage tanks at Red Hill, while also ensuring that the Navy will properly maintain and monitor the Base’s drinking water system. Such efforts are essential to safeguarding the health and the environment of communities around O’ahu.”

EPA is asking for comments on the proposed order and will host a public meeting the week of January 16, 2023, to go over details of the order and answer questions. Formal comments may be submitted on Regulations.gov from now until February 6, 2023. 

Under the requirements established by the proposed order, the Navy will take significant steps towards addressing the contamination of JBPHH’s drinking water system, and the Navy and DLA will take steps to prevent and contain any future leaks from Red Hill. Actions include:

• Creating a source water protection plan to identify and implement all protective measures available for the Red Hill Shaft and all JBPHH drinking water system wells.
• Mandating regular flushing of the JBPHH drinking water system to eliminate any contamination.
• Conducting sampling of residents, businesses and schools to assure no residual contamination remains in the JBPHH drinking water system.
• Planning for infrastructure and financial needs to assess and secure resources necessary to make any needed upgrades to the JBPHH drinking water system.
• Conducting semi-annual tightness testing of each fuel storage tank at Red Hill to actively diagnose potential for leaks and proactively correct any defects until closure is complete.
• Weekly soil vapor testing for all fuel storage tanks at Red Hill to detect any contaminated soils or groundwater.
• Establishing a defueling preparedness report certifying that all repairs to Red Hill have been completed and plans have been established in preparation for defueling.
• Requiring closure plans and documentation for each tank at Red Hill that is taken out of service to verify there is no remaining fuel and that work has been complete.

Following the November 2021 contamination of JBPHH’s drinking water system, Hawaiʻi Department of Health (DOH) issued an emergency order to the Navy that required the Navy to cease all operations at Red Hill and defuel and close the 20 underground storage tanks, surge tanks, and associated piping at Red Hill. DOH’s first emergency order was issued on December 6, 2021, and a superseding order was issued on May 6, 2022. The actions required by the proposed EPA order support DOH’s emergency order by requiring the Navy and DLA to minimize risks from the movement of fuel throughout the Red Hill facility during defueling and closure.

This proposed order will not impact the existing 2015 administrative order on consent (AOC) between EPA, Hawaii DOH, the Navy and DLA which requires investigation and cleanup of releases. The 2015 AOC is still in effect and is available on EPA’s website.

Read about EPA’s work at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii.

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