PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — On Thursday, the Navy finished removing fuel from three pipelines connecting the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility to fuel points on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, according to a news release.  

The Navy removed the fuel from the three pipelines to allow them to do necessary repairs and modifications that will make it possible to drain the 20 tanks at Red Hill.

The total amount of fuel removed was 1,058,187 gallons.

Each pipeline held a different type of fuel — JP-5, F-24 and F-76.

Removing the fuel from the pipelines began on Oct. 25 and took the Navy 10 days to complete. The Navy had initially said it expected the process to take six days, but it took two more days because of slower-than-anticipated pump flow rates.

“I want to thank all those involved in the planning and preparation for the unpacking process and then all of our teammates for their professionalism and safe execution,” Rear Adm. John Wade, who is the commander of the Joint Task Force-Red Hill, said in the news release. “I also want to thank our elected representatives, the Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard for their support, attention and oversight. Today’s successful completion of unpacking allows us to move into our next phase, which is to set conditions for the larger defueling effort.”

Earlier this week, the Navy submitted its plan for defueling and closing Red Hill and said it would ask the Hawaii Department of Health to approve repurposing the tanks for a non-fuel use.

The Navy’s plan says it will remove all the fuel from Red Hill by July 2024 and close the entire facility by 2027.  

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii.