Red Hill Chemical Leak Caused By Contractor And Navy Failures, Investigation Finds

Photo: Vice Adm. John Wade, commander of Joint Task Force Red Hill, shared findings from the chemical leak investigation on Friday. (Christina Jedra/Civil Beat/2023)

The contractor who was found to be at fault is still working at Red Hill.

May 5, 2023 — Failures by a defense contractor and lax oversight by the Navy led to the release of 1,300 gallons of toxic firefighting chemicals at the Red Hill fuel facility in November, according to an investigation the military released Friday afternoon.

The contractor, Kinetix, botched the installation of a valve in the fire suppression system in April 2022, the investigator found. Months later, during a test of the system, the company’s workers failed to turn off pumps that would release concentrated firefighting foam from that same valve.

Aqueous Film Forming Foam, or AFFF, contains toxic “forever chemicals” called PFAS associated with cancer and other health impacts. The release threatened the drinking water aquifer located just 100 feet below the Red Hill fuel tanks and contributed to increased distrust of the military within the community.

“This mishap was preventable,” Vice Adm. John Wade, commander of Joint Task Force Red Hill, said at a press conference Friday afternoon. “On behalf of the Department of Defense, I’m truly sorry.”

The investigation’s findings highlight how the Navy and its contractors have failed to properly operate and maintain the World War II-era fuel depot and appropriately respond to environmental emergencies. The incident occurred a year after back-to-back fuel leaks contaminated the drinking water of thousands of Pearl Harbor residents, some of whom say they are still ill as a result.

Shortly after noon on Nov. 29, the chemicals began spilling into the Red Hill tunnel. Exactly what time it started is unclear because a system that was supposed to log when pumps were activated wasn’t working, Wade said.

The leak went on for over 20 minutes before a contractor even noticed it, according to a timeline provided by the Joint Task Force. And that observation was coincidental. That person was […]

Full article: www.civilbeat.org