The Navy and Nakupuna Companies released a qualitative survey on Friday in order to collect opinions from the public about ways to repurpose the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility after the fuel it contains is drained, according to a news release.

It also asks how people are getting updates about Red Hill, whether they have questions about repurposing it and demographic information about the survey taker. 

The Hawaii Department of Health issued an emergency order to the Navy on May 6, 2022, requiring the Red Hill facility to be closed after it leaked fuel and poisoned the drinking water for residents who use the Navy’s water system. On Nov. 1, 2022, the Navy submitted a defueling and closure plan for Red Hill to the DOH, which included exploring potential options to reuse the facility. Nakupuna Companies and subcontractors, CommPac LLC and SMS Research & Marketing Services Inc., were hired by the Navy to conduct two surveys  

A second quantitative survey will be released in June and will be available online and through a mail-in survey with pre-paid postage sent to households near Red Hill. It will gather feedback on input received through the first survey.  

Nakupuna and its subcontractors will use the responses to create a report for the Navy, which will be completed in November, about the potential uses of Red Hill.

After completing the report, the Navy plans to meet with the Environmental Protection Agency and the DOH to select the top five ideas. A final analysis will evaluate the feasibility of these ideas and then be presented to the state, DOH and EPA for consideration. 

Click here to take the survey. 

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