Scathing report released detailing Navy’s handling of Red Hill fuel spill

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense released some scathing reports Thursday over the Navy’s handling of the jet fuel spill.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A new federal evaluation highlighted deficiencies in both the lead-up and response to the Red Hill fuel spill.

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense released some scathing reports Thursday over the Navy’s handling of the jet fuel spill at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

“Now that they know the Navy sacrificed the people of Oahu and our water supply for their war mission, what steps are they going to take to make us whole?”

—Marti Townsend
Red Hill Community Representation Initiative.

He determined Navy officials did not effectively manage the operations of the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility in accordance with federal and state laws and DoD policy, nor did they respond properly to the fuel incidents.

The Inspector General also said Navy officials had multiple opportunities to prevent the November 2021 fuel incident, but they failed to take precautionary measures.

The DoD made various recommendations to the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy for the spill that impacted more than 90,000 people and sickened more than 6,000 people.

“It is imperative that the Navy address ongoing challenges with the management of fuel and water systems at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–­­Hickam,” said Inspector General Robert Storch.

“This is why our recommendations include that the DoD assess leak detection systems at other Navy fuel support points. The DoD must take this action, and others, to ensure that tragedies like the one in November of 2021 are not allowed to repeat.”

In addition, the report said that American taxpayers carried the weight of unexpected costs related to the response.

DoD officials reported spending more than $220 million for the drinking water contamination incident. Furthermore, the National Defense Authorization Acts for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 included more than $2.1 billion in funding related to the drinking water contamination incident and the planned closure of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.

The report highlights failures of the Navy to warn the public. It also discusses four incidents of AFFF spills, fire fighting foam which contain toxic forever chemicals.

“We couldn’t find evidence that the Navy either reported or carried out cleanup activities for those releases,” Michael Roark, Deputy Inspector General told Hawaii News Now.

The Board of Water Supply said the reports are validating.

“This report actually provides more ammunition for us,” said Ernie Lau, Board of Water Supply chief engineer and manager.

“We’ve been sounding the alarm bells on the Red Hill issue for over ten years now,” he added.

Shannon Bencs was the fuels director at Red Hill, but then reassigned after she made multiple complaints. She says she was interviewed for the Department of Defense Inspector General twice.

“I had to walk them through the whole operations at Red Hill,” said Bencs.

“Nobody in the Navy except me made any complaints,” she added.

The Board of Water Supply still has a $1.2 billion claim against the Navy and clean water advocates say there are many unanswered questions.

“Now that they know the Navy sacrificed the people of Oahu and our water supply for their war mission, what steps are they going to take to make us whole,” said Marti Townsend, Red Hill Community Representation Initiative.

The inspector general has 38 recommendations including appointing a fuel leader for the Pearl Harbor base.

“The DoD IG findings align with previous evaluations and support corrective actions that have been implemented and are continuing to be worked by the Navy,” said a Navy spokesperson in a statement.

“These independent reports make clear that for decades the Navy and the Department of Defense have […]

Full article: www.hawaiinewsnow.com