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The U.S. Navy plans to defuel the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, a massive World War II-era military tank farm in the hills above Pearl Harbor, after an investigation revealed multiple mistakes and mismanagement that led to fuel leaking into the tap water at Pearl Harbor last year.
The Hawaii Department of Health released the Navy’s investigation Thursday that found mismanagement and human error caused fuel to leak from the facility into a well that supplies water to housing and officers in and around Pearl Harbor. Thousands of people were poisoned and military families were forced to evacuate their homes.
FILE – In this Dec. 23, 2021 photo provided by the U.S. Navy, Rear Adm. John Korka, commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) and chief of civil engineers, leads water quality restoration experts from Navy and civilians through tunnels at Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage, near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A Navy investigation released Thursday, June 30, 2022, revealed that mismanagement and human error caused fuel to leak into Pearl Harbor’s tap water last year, poisoning thousands of people and forcing military families to evacuate their homes for hotels. The investigation is the first detailed account of how jet fuel from the Red Hill bulk storage facility, a massive World War II-era military tank farm in the hills above Pearl Harbor, leaked into a well that supplied water to homes and offices in and around Pearl Harbor. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Luke McCall/U.S. Navy via AP, file)
“Red Hill must be closed as quickly as possible, and we fully expect that the Navy will mobilize all possible available resources to defuel and decommission the facility,” Deputy Director of Environmental Health Kathleen Ho said in a statement. “However, with the extensive repairs required and the Navy’s history of hazardous pipeline spills, our first priority continues to be ensuring that all defueling activities are conducted safely for the sake of the people and environment of Hawaii.”
The report listed a series of errors since May 2021, when operator error caused a pipe to burst and spill 21,000 gallons of fuel as it was transferred between tanks. The fuel spilled into a fire line, sat there for six months, and then spilled again when a cart ran into it in November.
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FILE – Overhead lights illuminate a tunnel inside the Red Hill underground fuel storage facility in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Jan. 26, 2018. A Navy investigation released Thursday, June 30, 2022, found that mismanagement and human error were caused a fuel leak into the Pearl Harbor water fountain last year that poisoned thousands of people and forced military families to evacuate their homes for hotels. The investigation is the first detailed account of how jet fuel from the Red Hill bulk storage facility, a massive World War II-era military tank farm in the hills above Pearl Harbor, leaked into a well that supplied water to homes and offices in and around Pearl Harbor. (US Navy via AP, file)
About 6,000 people were treated for nausea, headaches, rashes and other ailments, according to the report. The military moved about 4,000 mostly military families into hotels for months while they waited for their water to be safe again.
The report said the military did not understand the seriousness of the situation.
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In this photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this 1942 Navy photo shows miners constructing one of the 20 fuel tanks at the Defense Logistics Agency’s Red Hill underground fuel storage facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which are connected by a mile-long tunnel. A Navy investigation released Thursday, June 30, 2022, revealed that mismanagement and human error caused fuel to leak into Pearl Harbor’s tap water last year, poisoning thousands of people and forcing military families to evacuate their homes for hotels. The investigation is the first detailed account of how jet fuel from the Red Hill bulk storage facility, a massive World War II-era military tank farm in the hills above Pearl Harbor, leaked into a well that supplied water to homes and offices in and around Pearl Harbor. (US Army Corps of Engineers via AP)
Admiral Sam Paparo, commander of the US Pacific Fleet, told reporters at a news conference that the Navy was trying to move away from that. He called it an ongoing process of “being real with ourselves” and “being honest about our flaws.”
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“The lack of critical thinking, intellectual rigor and self-assessment by key leaders at crucial moments exemplifies a culture of complacency and demonstrates a lack of professionalism required by the nature of high-consequence fueling operations,” the report said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lorraine Taylor is an editor at Fox News. News tips can be sent to lorraine.taylor@fox.com or on Twitter @LorraineEMT.
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