HONOLULU — The Deputy Director of the Department of Health issued a final ruling Monday that upholds the recommendation from a hearing officer that says the Navy must drain the Red Hill fuel tanks.

The Department of Health issued an emergency order on Dec. 7 that said the Navy must drain the 20 fuel tanks at the Navy’s Red Hill Storage Facility, suspend operations at Red Hill and take measures to treat contaminated drinking water.

What You Need To Know

  • A final ruling from the Department of Health upholds an earlier decesion that the Navy must drain the Red Hill fuel tanks 

  • The Navy has been fighting the Department of Health's emergency order to drain the Red Hill fuel tanks since early December

  • The emergency order was filed after water samples taken from the Navy’s Red Hill Shaft showed that the petroleum levels were 350 times the safe limit

  • The Navy can still appeal the Department of Health's final ruling to the environmental court of the First Circuit

The Navy said the following day that it would fight the order. It has said it had already temporarily suspended operations at Red Hill, and it’s working to “flush” the contaminated water.

A contested case hearing was held on Dec. 20 and 21 with Earthjustice — on behalf of the Sierra Club — and the Board of Water Supply intervening in the case, arguing along with the Department of Health that the environment and health of the people of Hawaii were in “imminent peril.”

The hearing officer, David Day, ruled on Dec. 27 that the Department of Health’s emergency order should be upheld in its entirety. His 33-page ruling was highly critical of the Navy and said the tanks posed “imminent peril” to the environment and health of the people of Hawaii.

The emergency order was filed after water samples taken from the Navy’s Red Hill Shaft showed that the petroleum levels were 350 times the safe limit. Residents in military housing complained of the odor of fuel in the tap water and said they had physical symptoms such as nausea, hair loss and vomiting, after drinking and bathing in the water.

“We are very pleased with the decision,” said David Henkin, a lawyer with Earthjustice who argued in the contested case hearing, to Spectrum News Hawaii on Monday.

The Board of Water Supply said on Dec. 28 that they were pleased with the hearing officer’s earlier ruling and urged the Navy to comply. It added that if the Navy didn’t comply, BWS would continue to fight for the protection of Honolulu’s water.

In reaction to Day’s ruling, the Navy filed objections on Dec. 29, saying he used an “overboard” interpretation of the Department of Health’s authority. The Navy also argued that the tanks did not pose “imminent peril.”

Marian Tsuji, the deputy director of the Department of Health, said in her final ruling Monday that she had “personally reviewed and considered the entire record of this matter including the Navy’s Exceptions.” She added that she sustained Day’s proposal and adopted it as the final decision.

It remains to be seen if the Navy will now appeal the final ruling to the environmental court of the First Circuit.

“The Navy technically can appeal the Department of Health’s decision, but now is not the time for delaying tactics,” said Henkin. “The threat to Oahu’s irreplaceable drinking water supply is far too dire for lawyers’ games. It is time for the Navy finally to do the right thing and comply with the Department of Health’s order promptly to defuel the Red Hill tanks.”