Paradise Polluted
Photo: NavyTimes
By Christen Brown
In November the nation was shocked by the discovery that 14,000 gallons of jet-fuel leaked into ground water of the Hawaiian island, Oahu. The fuel was reported to have contaminated the drinking water supplied to 93,000 military and civilian residents. This spill resulted in a reported 5,000 illnesses and 3,000 families displaced due to the contaminated water supply which has yet to be deemed safe. On December 6th as a result of the fuel leak the Hawaii Department of Health issued an emergency public health order for the removal of the underground fuel storage facility, known as the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility, near Pearl Harbor. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Drinking Water Emergency at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The significance of the shutdown of this military fuel supply facility encompasses an array of issues, not only for the military, but also the protection of human health and the environment.
The Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility was constructed between 1940 and 1943. The tanks were constructed 100 feet below rock and above an aquifer. The facility contains approximately 150 million gallons of fuel within 18 steel lined tanks measuring 100 feet in diameter and 250 in height, which are encased in concrete. Due to the central location of the Hawaiian Islands, the fuel tank facility was optimal to support the United States military operation in the Indo-Pacific region. Various officials foresaw the danger this aging facility presented, a previous leak inspired the regulative care undertaken by the partnership of the Hawaii Department of Health and the EPA since 2015 to monitor and ensure the protection of Oahu’s aquifer. The substantial November leak triggered a public outcry that this leak be the final one.
Following the December 6, 2021 Emergency Order for the facility’s removal the Navy declared they would contest the Order to immediately suspend operations at the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility. After hearings on the Emergency Order a Final Order was published on January 7th 2022 by the Department of Health Deputy Director upholding the Proposed Order relegating the facility as an “imminent peril requiring immediate action.” Following this decision the Navy filed an appeal in federal court on February 2nd requesting injunctive relief against the Order. The Sierra Club of Hawaii intervened to contest the Navy’s appeal in state and federal court. Due to the nature of this conflict this issue was elevated to the attention of the highest level of the United States. President Biden signed a bill into law on February 11th allotting $400 million to the water contamination crisis, with a specialized $100 million designated to the fuel removal.
On March 7th the Secretary of Defense issued a memo formally announcing the permanent closure of the Facility “guided by a commitment to protect the population, the environment, and the security of the nation.” Ultimately the utility of the fuel tank facility to military operations was outweighed by the potential harm to human health leading to the final decision to close the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility. With the closure finalized, efforts continue to restore water quality for safe human use and environmental protection. Clean-up efforts have included divers working in water well shafts for underground water contamination and for the aboveground removal of contaminants using hydraulic pumps to skim the top of the water surface. Regarding future preventative measures Colorado itself provides one example on how this may be accomplished.
Colorado is no stranger to the threat of hazardous substances that may endanger public health, welfare or the environment, and the vast effort required to restore these conditions as it is home to over twenty superfund sites. One particular problem Colorado has encountered is in ‘forever chemicals’ entering water supplies. Two examples of these chemicals are polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). These chemicals are linked to cancer and are associated with dozens of household and industrial products such as firefighting foam. In 2019, high levels of PFOS were found at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora. Previously, the highest profile contamination occurred in Colorado Springs in 2016 from the use of firefighting foam at the Peterson Air Force Base. Similar to the fuel leak in Hawaii, contamination from the Air Force Base firefighting foam caused a forced shut down of drinking water in three communities, leading to a strengthened EPA health advisory level in small communities, and a multi-million dollar cleanup cost with construction of new water treatment plants to decontaminate the water supply.
In 2021 the Colorado Legislature, motivated by the increase of contaminated sites granted CDPHE $8 million in funding and increased authority to identify and address: contaminated sites, removal of hazardous firefighting foam, and improved drinking water systems to help communities with tainted water. Given that inadequate funding in 2019 was referenced as a concern for small communities unable to meet the high cost of environmental clean-up resulting from contaminated water supplies, this new legislative support is a positive step in resolving Colorado’s ‘forever chemicals.’ The EPA has similarly announced new regulations to limit PFAS substances in drinking water, but this regulation will not be available until 2023 to be reviewed.
While the limits and proper authorities enforcing these limits are still debated, human health and safety through continued monitoring of dangerous conditions and increased funding to address these conditions are essential. For the most adequate form of prevention, action must be taken on a comprehensive state and federal level to create and enforce laws and regulations to increase public safety from environmental externalities.