HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	2
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the United States Navy to prepare a plan to decommission the red hill bulk fuel storage facility, store its fuel in a manner compliant with state law, establish a new water treatment facility, pay for all costs to the state, and comply with all future remediation efforts.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, under Article XI, section 7 of the Hawaii State Constitution, the "State has an obligation to protect, control and regulate the use of Hawaii's water resources for the benefit of its people"; and

 

     WHEREAS, the importance of fresh water in Native Hawaiian culture cannot be overstated; and

 

     WHEREAS, the common Hawaiian term for water, wai, is incorporated within the Hawaiian term for law, kānāwai, and the Hawaiian term for wealth, waiwai; and

 

     WHEREAS, the common Hawaiian phrase Ola I Ka Wai translates directly to the lived experience of life in Hawaii and around the world:  "water is life"; and

 

     WHEREAS, Pu‘uloa, later named Pearl Harbor, was once a hyper productive wetland with Oahu's highest concentration of fishponds; however, Pu‘uloa and the surrounding environment has been irrevocably altered by the United States military; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Navy is the owner and operator of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which is a field-constructed underground storage tank system on Oahu, located approximately two and a half miles northeast of Pearl Harbor; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility was constructed during World War II and began operation in 1943; it occupies approximately one hundred forty-four acres of land along the edge of the Koolau Range, situated on a topographic ridge that divides the Halawa Valley and Moanalua Valley; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which consists of twenty field-constructed underground storage tanks, pipelines, and other infrastructure, is used to store marine diesel and two types of jet fuel and provides fuel to domestic military services that operate in the Pacific Area of Responsibility; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility sits approximately one hundred feet directly above Oahu's groundwater aquifer; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has designated Oahu's groundwater aquifer as one of nine sole-source aquifers in the Environmental Protection Agency Region IX and has previously determined that this aquifer is the "principal source of drinking water" for Oahu, which if contaminated, "would create a significant hazard to public health"; and

 

     WHEREAS, on November 28, 2021, users of the Navy's Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system complained of a fuel odor coming from the water and an oily sheen on water; and

 

     WHEREAS, numerous residents reported their families and pets experienced health issues after consuming the water, including rashes, mouth sores, stomach aches, vomiting, burning eyes, sore throats, headaches, and nausea; and

 

     WHEREAS, on November 29, 2021, the Department of Health issued an advisory to all users on the Navy's water system to avoid using the tap water for drinking, cooking, or oral hygiene and that users who detect a fuel odor from their water should avoid using the water for drinking, cooking, bathing, dishwashing, laundry, or oral hygiene; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a direct result of the water contamination, over three thousand residents were required to move out of their homes and several businesses shut down or limited operations; and

 

     WHEREAS, several Hawaii public schools and child development centers on the Navy water system were also impacted by the water contamination, forced to close off sinks and water fountains and use only bottled water for handwashing, dishwashing, and drinking purposes; and

 

     WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu Board of Water Supply, to protect its drinking water system, has shut down multiple water sources, including the Halawa Shaft, which supplies approximately twenty percent of water to urban Honolulu; and

 

     WHEREAS, the suspected source of the water contamination was from a November 20, 2021, release of approximately fourteen thousand gallons of a mixture of water and fuel from a crack in a fire suppression drain line at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; and the United States Navy has identified JP-5, or jet fuel, in the Red Hill Shaft, one of the drinking water sources for the Navy water system; and

 

     WHEREAS, as of December 3, 2021, the Department of Health received nearly five hundred complaints, mostly from residents or customers served by the Navy water system, complaining of fuel or chemical smells from the drinking water; and

 

     WHEREAS, fuel has entered the Oahu groundwater aquifer, with data suggesting that fuel that has already leaked into the aquifer will migrate through porous rocks toward the Halawa Shaft; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has indicated that the worst-case scenario would be to permanently consider the shutdown of Halawa Shaft, Halawa Well, and Aiea Well and that these wells will not be used again until the Board of Water Supply has one hundred percent confidence that they will not be contaminated by migrating fuel from Red Hill; and

 

     WHEREAS, the continuing Red Hill water pollution crisis may have a significant impact on the state economy due to a necessary pause or moratorium on the issuance of new water permits by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, necessary remediation, and the housing and health concerns of thousands of residents; and

 

     WHEREAS, the probability of an acute leak of between one thousand to thirty thousand gallons of fuel each year is at least twenty-seven percent, which is likely understated; and

 

     WHEREAS, on December 6, 2021, the Department of Health issued an emergency order requiring the United States Navy to immediately suspend operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, as it represents "an imminent peril to human health and safety or the environment" and also take measures to treat contaminated drinking water at the Red Hill Shaft and safely remove fuel from the twenty underground storage tanks at Red Hill; and

 

     WHEREAS, the emergency order notes that under section 342L-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, if the Governor or Director of Health determines that an "imminent peril to human health and safety or the environment" exists, the Governor or Director of Health may order any person to immediately reduce or stop the release or activity and take any and all other actions as may be necessary; and

 

     WHEREAS, the emergency order stated that the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility does not provide necessary environmental protection to rapidly identify and remediate fuel leaks; and

 

     WHEREAS, the emergency order also stated that, given the number of incidences that have occurred at Red Hill over the last year, and in view of the current drinking water contamination, the United States Navy has not demonstrated and cannot ensure that immediate and appropriate response actions are available or will be available should another release occur in the future; and

 

     WHEREAS, on January 3, 2022, the Department of Health upheld the December 6, 2021, emergency order; and

 

     WHEREAS, on January 3, 2022, the Department of Health issued its Final Decision, Order, Findings of Fact, and Conclusions of Law, upholding the December 6, 2021, emergency order and specifically finding that the release of additional fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility is inevitable, as the Red Hill underground storage tanks have a history of leaking and will continue to leak; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Navy has previously decommissioned antiquated storage tanks at Naval Base Kitsap, Washington, and Naval Base Point Loma, California, and therefore has the ability to remediate the significant environmental contamination caused by the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; decommission the antiquated underground storage tanks at Red Hill; and store fuel in compliance with current legal and technological standards; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is the intent of this body to improve trust between the residents of Oahu and the United States Navy and engage in planning between federal, state, and county agencies to ensure the safety of Oahu's water supply for future generations; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the United States Navy is requested to prepare a plan to decommission the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; store its fuel in a manner that is compliant with state and federal law, away from the Oahu groundwater aquifer; prepare a plan to establish a new water treatment facility adjacent to Red Hill; pay for all costs to the State, and comply with all future remediation efforts to Oahu's environment and water supply; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, it is the intent of this body to:

 

     (1)  Hold the United States Navy accountable for the significant and foreseeable costs to the State as the result of the ongoing Red Hill water pollution crisis;

 

     (2)  Ensure that the United States Navy remediates the damage caused to the Oahu groundwater aquifer, land surrounding the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, and Pearl Harbor; and

 

     (3)  Ensure that any such remediation meets the standards set under state and federal law; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body agrees with the December 6, 2021, Department of Health emergency order; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Navy is requested to submit these plans to the Legislature, Department of Health, and Honolulu Board of Water Supply in an expedient manner; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, United States Secretary of Defense, United States Secretary of the Navy, members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, Governor, Director of Health, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Manager and Chief Engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage; Facility; Fuel Storage; United States Navy; Groundwater; Decommission; Remediation