PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — The Joint Task Force-Red Hill said the defueling process for the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility could start as early as Oct. 16, 2023. It also proposed removing the three pipelines that fill, drain and transfer fuel between the 20 Red Hill fuel tanks.

What You Need To Know

  • The Department of Defense said defueling could start as early as Oct. 16. Previously, military officials estimated that defueling would start in Feb. 2024

  • The Navy proposed removing all three pipelines that transfer fuel at Red Hill after the defueling process is complete

  • The Navy said removing the pipelines will not affect its three-year closure timeline

  • The Navy also released an app that the public may download to track the progress of the defueling process

The Department of Defense said defueling could start as early as Oct. 16 in a supplement to the Defueling Plan, which was submitted to DOH and the Environmental Protection Agency on May 16. The process of removing 104 million gallons of fuel via gravity would be completed by Jan. 19, 2024. Previously, military officials estimated that defueling would start in February 2024 and be complete by the end of June 2024. However, DoD said up to 400,000 gallons would remain in the tanks at the conclusion of this process and would still need to be removed. 

The Joint-Task Force Red Hill released a Draft Environmental Assessment on June 9 that analyzes potential environmental effects with gravity-based defueling of Red Hill. JTF-RH will host an informational meeting for the public on June 15, 2023, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Memorial Hall at the Ke‘ehi Lagoon Memorial. The Draft EA is available for public comment until June 30. 

The Navy submitted a supplement to its Red Hill Tank Closure Plan to the Hawaii Department of Health on May 31 that proposes removing all three fuel pipelines after the defueling process is complete. The Navy said removing the pipelines would reduce long-term maintenance costs. In November 2022, the Navy emptied the pipelines of fuel, so they could repair them before starting the defueling process.  

The pipelines are in tunnels that connect the underground storage tanks to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. All three together are 10 miles long. In the original Red Hill Tank Closure Plan submitted in November 2022, the Navy proposed the Red Hill storage tanks be repurposed for a non-fuel use. The Navy said in its recent supplement that removing the pipelines will allow more flexibility for using the tunnel space when repurposing Red Hill.

Closing the Red Hill facility will take about three years, according to the Navy. The Navy said removing the pipelines will not affect the closure timeline. 

The Joint Task Force-Red Hill said all but one of the 253 repairs to the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility that are necessary to defuel the facility have been completed. However, only 158 have received third-party quality validation and been submitted to the Hawaii Department of Health for approval. So far, DOH has approved 56 of the repairs. This information was shared in the Red Hill Joint Task Force’s “defueling dashboard” that appears on its website. 

The Navy also released an app for the public to track the progress of the defueling process. Search for “JTF – Red Hill” in the app store to download it.

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

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