HONOLULU — Regulators are ordering the Navy to redo some of its plans to assess the threat its Red Hill fuel tanks pose to Honolulu's groundwater.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health sent a letter to the Navy dated Sept. 15. It says the military will need to gather sufficient data to establish likely groundwater flow directions beneath and around the tanks.
The agencies say the work is critical for limiting the risk to the drinking water from past and potential future fuel leaks.
The Navy stores fuel for military ships and aircraft in 20 underground tanks at Red Hill. The tanks sit on an aquifer that supplies a quarter of the water consumed in urban Honolulu.
The Navy detected a leak of 27,000 gallons from one tank in 2014.\
Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Lovgren, fuel director at Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor, briefs members of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply during a visit to Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility near Pearl Harbor on Feb. 19, 2016. The group visited the modernized Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, where subject matter experts showed how the Navy maintains the facility as a national strategic asset. Red Hill provides fuel to operate overseas while ensuring drinking water in the area remains safe.U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Meranda Keller/Released)
Photo Credit: MC1 Meranda Keller/Navy
