HONOLULU, Hawaii: The US military has announced that it has drained millions of gallons of fuel from an underground World War II-era fuel tank complex in Hawaii that leaked jet fuel into Pearl Harbor’s drinking water in 2021, poisoning 6,000 people.
On Thursday, the Joint Task Force Red Hill held a ceremony to hand over responsibility for the tanks to Navy Closure Task Force-Red Hill, led by Rear Adm. Stephen D. Barnett.
The new command will permanently decommission the tanks, clean up the environment and restore the underground aquifer, according to officials.
In a recorded video released on Wednesday, Vice Adm. John Wade, commander of the task force that drained the tanks, said that Barnett understands “the enormity and importance” of the job.
The new task force’s mission was to “safely and expeditiously close the facility to ensure clean water and to conduct the necessary long-term environmental remediation,” he added.
After the 2021 spill caused an outcry in Hawaii and raised concerns about the threat the tanks posed to Honolulu’s water supply, the military agreed to drain the tanks, which sit above an aquifer supplying water to 400,000 people in urban Honolulu, including Waikiki and the city’s downtown area.
According to a Navy investigation, a series of errors caused thousands of gallons of fuel to seep into the Navy’s water system serving 93,000 people on and around the Pearl Harbor naval base in 2021.
Those who drank the affected water reported symptoms that included nausea, vomiting and skin rashes.
The Navy reprimanded three now-retired military officers for their roles in the spill, but it did not discharge or suspend anyone.
