75% of 104 Million Gallons of Fuel Removed from Hawaii’s Dangerous Red Hill Underground Storage Tanks

As of November 8, an estimated 79,768, 836gallons of fuel, or 75% of the 104,000,000 gallons stored in the 80-year-old massive leaking underground fuel tanks at Red Hill in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii has been removed.

Nearly two years ago, in late November 2021, a massive leak of fuel flowed directly into Oahu’s drinking aquifer. Approximately 93,000 persons living in 17 residential areas around Pearl Harbor naval base were affected. Many are suffering major health problems from exposure to the toxic water. Over 7,000 local residents have filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Navy for their injuries.

Where is the fuel going upon removal?

Potential receiving locations for the ten fuel ship tanker deliveries include:

• Campbell Industrial Park, West Oahu, Hawaii
• Point Loma, California
• Selby, California
• Vancouver, Washington
• Manchester, Washington
• Sasebo, Japan
• Subic Bay, Philippines
• Port of Singapore
• Darwin, Australia

According to the August 2023 report—titled Final Environmental Assessment / Overseas Environmental Assesment for Red Hill Defueling Relocation Plan—the quantity of fuel and number of deliveries to each location depends on DoD fuel inventory needs at the time of defueling.

Joint Task Force Red Hill has released data that showed that fuel removed from the tanks that flowed 3.5 miles down repaired pipes had been moved by commercial fuel tanker ships primarily to above-ground storage tanks at Energy Services, Campbell Industrial Park in West Oahu.

Here is a breakdown of the four weeks of defueling and where the fuel has gone:

October 16-20, Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH) safely removed 16,299,594 gallons from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (RHBFSF) and completed transfer of fuel to the first tanker Empire State by gravity draining approximately 12 million gallons of F-24 fuel from tanks 2 and 6 at the RHBFSF, Oct. 18. The 12 million gallons were transported to Island Energy Services tanks at Campbell Industrial Park, in West Oahu. 4 million gallons went to the above-ground storage tanks at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to support training and operational requirements.

From October 19-21, 2023, 9.52 million gallons were relocated via pipeline to the Upper Tank Farm on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for operational and training purposes.

October 23-27, JTF-RH completed transfer of approximately 8 million gallons of F24 from tanks 4 and 6 and nearly one million gallons of JP5 from tank 9 to above-ground storage tanks at JBPHH. Additionally, JTF-RH completed transfer of approximately 12 million gallons of F24 from tanks 3, 5, and 6 to tanker Empire State for transport to Island Energy Services at Campbell Industrial Park, West Oahu.

From October 26-28, JTF-RH completed the transfer of approximately 12 million gallons of JP5 from tanks 9 and 11 to merchant tanker Torm Thunder to be relocated to Subic Bay, Phillipines. Additionally, JTF-RH completed transfer of approximately 9.5 million gallons of F24 from tanks 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, as well as approximately 2.3 million gallons of JP5 from tank 10 to tanker Empire State.

Data for the disposition of fuel from October 29-November 7 will be available on Friday, November 10.

Information Outreach Programs Continue

Several meetings for the public to be updated by the Joint Task Force Red Hill are conducted monthly. In November, 2023, the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee, the Commission on Water Resource Management and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and the Community Representative Initiative will meet and receive briefings from relevant military and state agencies.