I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6714 

To direct the Secretary of the Navy to close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage 

Facility in Hawaii, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2022 

Mr. KAHELE (for himself and Mr. CASE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Navy to close the Red Hill 

Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Red Hill Watershed 

5 and Aquifer Initiative Act’’ or the ‘‘Red Hill WAI Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage 

9 Facility (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Red Hill 

10 facility’’ ) was constructed in September 1943. 


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1 (2) The Red Hill facility was constructed un2 derground in hollowed-out volcanic rock to allow for 

3 maximum protection of the fuel supply. 

4 (3) The Red Hill facility’s 20 steel tanks are 

5 encased by 2.5 to 4 feet of concrete and surrounded 

6 by basalt bedrock. 

7 (4) The Red Hill facility is the largest single 

8 Department of Defense fuel storage facility in the 

9 Pacific theater. 

10 (5) The Red Hill facility can store approxi11 mately 250,000,000 gallons of fuel. The fuels stored 

12 are marine diesel, F–76, and two types of jet fuel: 

13 JP–5 and JP–8. 

14 (6) The Red Hill facility is located approxi15 mately 100 feet above the basal groundwater table 

16 and sits directly above the island of Oahu’s federally 

17 designated sole-source groundwater aquifer, the 

18 Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer, which provides ap19 proximately 77 percent of Oahu’s drinking water. 

20 (7) Historic records compiled by the Navy in a 

21 2008 groundwater protection plan indicate that the 

22 Red Hill facility has had dozens of fuel leaks dating 

23 back to 1947. 


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1 (8) The Red Hill facility’s fuel leaks pose an ex2 istential threat to Oahu’s federally designated sole3 source groundwater aquifer. 

4 (9) The Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency 

5 are responsible for protecting the public from un6 scheduled fuel leaks that may pose a risk to the 

7 drinking water. 

8 (10) Until the mid-1980s most underground 

9 storage tanks (in this section referred to as 

10 ‘‘USTs’’) were made of bare steel, which is likely to 

11 corrode over time and allow UST contents to leak 

12 into the environment. The greatest potential hazard 

13 from a leaking UST is that its contents (petroleum 

14 or other hazardous substances) can seep into the soil 

15 and contaminate groundwater, the source of drink16 ing water for nearly half of all Americans. 

17 (11) To address a nationwide problem of leak18 ing USTs, Congress passed a series of laws to pro19 tect human health and the environment, including 

20 the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Superfund 

21 Amendments Reauthorization Act, the Energy Policy 

22 Act of 2005, and the American Recovery And Rein23 vestment Act of 2009 (commonly referred to as the 

24 ‘‘Recovery Act’’). 


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1 (12) The State of Hawaii obtained Environ2 mental Protection Agency State Program approval, 

3 effective on September 2, 2002, for Hawaii’s UST 

4 program to operate in lieu of the Environmental 

5 Protection Agency UST program. 

6 (13) In January 2014, The Red Hill facility 

7 leaked approximately 27,000 gallons of fuel. 

8 (14) In 2015, the Environmental Protection 

9 Agency and the State of Hawaii Department of 

10 Health negotiated an enforceable agreement, an Ad11 ministrative Order on Consent, with the Navy and 

12 the Defense Logistics Agency (EPA DKT NO. 

13 RCRA 7003–R9–2015–01/DOH DKT NO. 15– 

14 UST–EA–01). 

15 (15) The 2015 Administrative Order on Con16 sent includes a Statement of Work that lays out the 

17 specific tasks the Navy and the Defense Logistics 

18 Agency must implement. The Statement of Work 

19 consists of 8 sections on overall project management, 

20 as follows: 

21 (A) Tank inspection. 

22 (B) Repair and maintenance. 

23 (C) Tank upgrade alternatives. 

24 (D) Release detection and tank tightness 

25 testing. 


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1 (E) Corrosion and metal fatigue practices. 

2 (F) Investigation and remediation of re3 leases. 

4 (G) Groundwater protection and evalua5 tion. 

6 (H) Risk and vulnerability assessment. 

7 (16) On May 6, 2021, a burst pipeline in Red 

8 Hill spilled fuel into the facility’s lower access tunnel 

9 and the Navy failed to recover the entirety of the 

10 leaked fuel. While the Navy initially estimated that 

11 1,618 gallons of fuel spilled, with all but 38 gallons 

12 recovered, several months later, the Navy’s esti13 mated amount of fuel spilled increased to 19,000 

14 gallons, with most of the spilled fuel not recovered. 

15 (17) On November 20, 2021, the Navy an16 nounced a spill of 14,000 gallons of a water and fuel 

17 mixture from a fire suppression drain line located 

18 0.25 miles downhill of the fuel tanks at Red Hill due 

19 to operator error. 

20 (18) On November 22, 2021, the Navy an21 nounced that the water and fuel mixture was re22 moved from the tunnel and put into a storage tank 

23 above ground and that there were no signs that the 

24 fuel had escaped into the environment. The Navy 

25 communicated that the water was safe to drink. 


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1 (19) On November 28, 2021, military families 

2 and civilians living in the Joint Base Pearl Harbor3 Hickam military housing installation began report4 ing contaminated tap water. 

5 (20) Impacted families shared personal experi6 ences of the immediate and ongoing health impacts 

7 of exposure to the contaminated water in their 

8 homes including chemical burns, stomach and head 

9 pain, dizziness and nauseousness, rashes and more. 

10 (21) Families reported noxious odors in im11 pacted homes that continued to make this housing 

12 unsuitable for many families. 

13 (22) After it was definitively confirmed that the 

14 Red Hill well was contaminated with petroleum, the 

15 State of Hawaii Department of Health issued an 

16 emergency order on December 6, 2021, to the 

17 United States Navy to suspend operations and 

18 defuel the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. That 

19 emergency order was contested by the Navy in late 

20 December, and on January 3, 2022, it was re21 affirmed by the State of Hawaii, Department of 

22 Health in its final decision and order. 

23 (23) The December 6, 2021, emergency order 

24 has had broad support from the communities of 

25 Oahu, the Governor, the Department of Health, 


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1 State Commission on Water Resource Management, 

2 the City and County Board of Water Supply, city 

3 council members, and State legislators. In short, the 

4 whole-of-government in Hawaii believes that the 

5 Navy should comply with the emergency order. 

6 (24) On December 7, 2021 the Navy announced 

7 that they will contest the State of Hawaii’s order to 

8 drain the fuel tanks. 

9 (25) On December 10, 2021, the Navy con10 firmed samples taken from the Navy Red Hill Shaft 

11 contained fuel levels 350 times more than the State 

12 of Hawaii’s safe drinking limit. 

13 (26) On February 2, 2022, the Department of 

14 Justice filed an appeal in both Federal and State 

15 court over the State of Hawaii’s order to defuel Red 

16 Hill. 

17 SEC. 3. CLOSURE OF NAVY RED HILL BULK FUEL STORAGE 

18 FACILITY, HAWAII. 

19 (a) CLOSURE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of the 

20 Navy shall— 

21 (1) discontinue all fuel operations at the Red 

22 Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii; 

23 (2) defuel all bulk fuel storage tanks located at 

24 the facility by not later than December 31, 2022; 

25 and 


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1 (3) permanently close the facility in accordance 

2 with relevant Environmental Protection Agency reg3 ulations. 

4 (b) NAVY RESPONSIBILITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Navy shall retain own6 ership and possession of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel 

7 Storage Facility and the property on which such fa8 cility is located. Consistent with existing Navy and 

9 legal requirements, the Secretary of the Navy shall 

10 remain responsible for the environmental condition 

11 of the property. 

12 (2) CLEANUP COSTS.—The Navy shall be re13 sponsible for all cleanup costs associated with— 

14 (A) the fuel spill that occurred at the Red 

15 Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in November 

16 2021; and 

17 (B) each prior spill or leak that occurred 

18 at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility 

19 since the opening of the facility. 

20 (3) REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN STATE AND

21 LOCAL ENTITIES.—The Secretary of the Navy shall 

22 reimburse the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and 

23 the Hawaii State Departments of Health and Edu24 cation for expenditures made in response to the 

25 threats posed by operations at the Red Hill Bulk 


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1 Fuel Storage Facility, including expenditures made 

2 to drill new drinking water wells and to install moni3 toring wells (both monitoring wells that were pre4 viously installed and to be installed). 

5 (4) RESEARCH.—The Secretary of the Navy 

6 shall conduct relevant near-to-mid term research, in7 cluding on hydrology and water monitoring. 

8 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW FACILITIES.—The Sec9 retary of the Navy, in coordination with the Director of 

10 the Office of Naval Research, shall establish, at the site 

11 of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility— 

12 (1) a water treatment facility; and 

13 (2) a permanent water quality testing facility. 

14 (d) MONTHLY REPORTS.—Not later than 30 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 30 

16 days thereafter until all bulk fuel storage tanks located 

17 at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility have been 

18 defueled, the Secretary of Defense shall provide a report 

19 and briefing on the progress toward such defueling to— 

20 (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

21 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

22 (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

23 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep24 resentatives. 


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1 (e) HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EMERGENCY

2 ORDER.—The Navy shall comply with the emergency 

3 order of the Hawaii Department of Health issued on De4 cember 6, 2021, which directs the Navy to carry out the 

5 following: 

6 (1) Immediately suspend operations at the Red 

7 Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Tanks, including fuel trans8 fers. The Navy must continue to maintain environ9 mental and monitoring controls. 

10 (2) Take immediate steps to install drinking 

11 water treatment system(s) at Red Hill Shaft to en12 sure distribution of drinking water conforms to the 

13 standards prescribed by the Federal Safe Drinking 

14 Water Act and applicable Federal and State regula15 tions. This action should also minimize movement of 

16 the contaminant plume(s). 

17 (3) Submit a workplan and implementation 

18 schedule within 30 days, prepared by a qualified 

19 independent third party approved by the State De20 partment of Health, to assess the operations and 

21 system integrity to safely defuel the Bulk Fuel Stor22 age Tanks. Upon the State Department of Health’s 

23 approval of the assessment, workplan and implemen24 tation schedule, the Navy must make necessary corVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Feb 18, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6714.IH H6714

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1 rective actions to address any deficiencies as expedi2 tiously as possible. 

3 (4) Within 30 days of completion of required 

4 corrective actions, remove fuel from the Bulk Fuel 

5 Storage Tanks at the Red Hill facility. 

6 (5) Within 30 days, submit a workplan and im7 plementation schedule, prepared by a qualified inde8 pendent third party approved by the State Depart9 ment of Health, to assess operations and system in10 tegrity of the Red Hill facility to determine design 

11 and operational deficiencies that may impact the en12 vironment and develop recommendations for correc13 tive action. Upon the Department’s approval, the 

14 Navy must perform work and implement corrective 

15 actions as expeditiously as possible. 

16 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

18 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

19 2023 through 2028. 

Æ 


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