HONOLULU — The Environmental Protection Agency released an agreement, called a consent order, with the Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency that outlines steps to defuel and close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. 

The proposed consent order also delineates that the Navy must operate and maintain the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system to be safe to drink.


What You Need To Know

  • The proposed consent order is not yet finalized, but outlines what the Navy is required to do in the process to defuel and close Red Hill

  • The EPA is holding a public meeting on the week of Jan. 16, 2023 to answer questions

  • The public may submit comments at regulations.gov until Feb. 6

  • Earthjustice and Sierra Club of Hawaii criticized the EPA for putting forward the proposed order without consulting the Board of Water Supply

The full order can be read here. 

“This order demonstrates EPA’s commitment to protect the Oahu aquifer from contamination,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman in a news release. “Our proposed order requires the Navy and DLA to safely and expeditiously defuel and close the storage tanks at Red Hill, while also ensuring that the Navy will properly maintain and monitor the Base’s drinking water system. Such efforts are essential to safeguarding the health and the environment of communities around Oahu.”

The proposed consent order is the EPA’s latest step as it oversees the Navy’s response to the November 2021 leak of fuel from Red Hill and closure process. The leaked fuel entered Oahu’s groundwater and impacted 93,000 people that use the Navy’s water system. Many people are still suffering after drinking fuel-tainted water. 

The proposed consent order is not yet finalized. The EPA is holding a public meeting on the week of Jan. 16, 2023, to answer questions about the proposed order. Comments may be submitted on regulations.gov until Feb. 6. The order may be modified after this period. 

The proposed consent order instructs the Navy to create a plan to protect the Red Hill Shaft, regularly flush the JBPHH water system, test water samples to assure no residual contamination remains, upgrade infrastructure to the JBPHH water system when necessary, proactively fix any vulnerabilities in the Red Hill fuel tanks until closure is complete, conduct weekly soil vapor tests to detect any contaminated soil or groundwater, certify that all repairs to Red Hill have been completed in preparation to defuel Red Hill, and create closure plans for each tank and verify there is no remaining fuel once work is complete. 

“This Consent Order is an important instrument to maintain our progress in safe and effective defueling and closure at Red Hill, as well as the ongoing improvement of the drinking water system at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,” said Karnig Ohannessian, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Environment and Mission Readiness, in a news release. “I look forward to our continued collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency to protect human health and the environment in Hawaii.”

The Department of Health ordered the Navy to defuel and close Red Hill on May 6, 2022. The EPA’s proposed consent order is meant to work side by side with DOH’s order. 

Earthjustice and Sierra Club of Hawaii criticized the EPA for putting forward the proposed order without consulting the Board of Water Supply or community members. 

The organizations urged the public to use the comment period “to demand the EPA do better.”

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her ideas and feedback at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.

Related Stories