The Pentagon has closed a leaked U.S. Navy fuel tank facility in Hawaii after the tank contaminated drinking water for thousands of Hawaii residents, the Department of Defense announced Monday. Red Hill’s bulk fuel storage facility will wear out as soon as possible, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a letter Monday, citing modern fuel needs that have left the facility obsolete.
Built in Oahu in 1943, the facility consists of 20 steel-lined underground tanks, which can hold up to 250 million gallons of fuel. But the reservoir was built directly on an aquifer responsible for 20% of Honolulu drinking water, according to the Associated Press.
According to Austin, the Secretary of the Navy and the director of the Defense Logistics Agency will provide a 12-month plan to wear down the facility on May 31, which will include “environmental remediation” to clean the water to which the fuel was leaked.
“We will continue to work with the Hawaii Department of Health, national and local elected officials, and other community leaders to clean the water from the Red Hill well,” Austin wrote Monday. “And we will develop an environmental mitigation plan to address any future pollution issues. The same goes for our workforce and their families.
Shannon Haney / AP
The news comes after months of fighting between Hawaiian residents and U.S. Navy officials. After the owners complained about the oil-smelling water, the Navy issued a statement that the water was safe to drink. But after continued complaints of illness and a strange-smelling water, Pearl Harbor-Hickam Joint Base Commander Captain Erik Spritzer apologized Dec. 5, saying officials had misread the evidence. water and oil had been identified.
More than 3,000 military families were evicted from their phones as a result of the pollution, according to the Pentagon. The contamination also spread to non-military-related households. Neighbors affected by the spill have commented on the stress, injuries and psychological damage they felt as they were not taken seriously by officials.
“You get the feeling that every piece of water you touch is now polluted no matter where you are because the damage has already been done,” Frances Paulino, a mother of two, told CBS News. “It just puts us in a position where we don’t feel like we could ever trust to have this safe space in our homes. This has been stolen from us. That sense of security and serenity that you feel when you walk in the front door is completely erased by to us”.
U.S. Navy officials have maintained that water can now be drunk since Dec. 16, but research into how the leak occurred is still ongoing.
“Your health has been affected, your lives and livelihoods have been altered, and in many cases your own homes have been left inaccessible,” Austin said Monday. “We owe you the best health care we can provide, answers to your many questions and clean, safe drinking water. We sincerely owe you a return to normalcy. And you are committed to that goal.”
Eleanor Watson contributed to this report.
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