Support SB2774 SD1: Red Hill Relocation Bill
/UPDATE- BILL WAS DELETED FROM THURSDAY’S AGENDA. PLEASE STANDBY.
SUPPORT SB2774 SD1, which shuts down the Red Hill facility and relocates the fuel away from Oʻahu’s drinking water.
This Red Hill bill is scheduled for decision-making on Thursday, February 20 at 10:00am in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health and we urge you to submit testimony in support of a clean water future. Only written testimony will be accepted for this hearing.
The Navy’s massive, 75+ year old tanks currently store 225 million gallons of fuel, 100 feet directly above Oʻahu’s primary drinking water resource. The tanks, built for WWII, should have never been built here and are the largest risk to Oʻahu’s water security future. The tanks have been leaking since construction and most recently leaked 27,000 gallons of fuel into the surrounding environment in 2014. Since this leak, the Navy, EPA, and DOH have been “working” on a 20-year plan to fix the tanks to “better guard” Oʻahu’s water. After six years into the agency agreement, the Navy wants even more time to figure out their solid protection plan. Oʻahu should not have to wait 25 years to know that their water is safe.
There is no tank upgrade that can guarantee that the Red Hill tanks will never leak again. The only sure-fire option for water protection is relocation away from water resources. A recent Navy study revealed that the tanks, as they are now, have a 27.6% chance of leaking 30,000 gallons of fuel every year. Knowing this risk, it is unacceptable that the agencies are allowing the tanks to remain in operation.
SB2774 SD1 prohibits underground storage tanks larger than 100,000 gallons to be operated above the underground injection control line —a boundary set by the Health Department that determines where our groundwater aquifer ends and drinking water aquifer begins. This would mean that the Red Hill tanks would be relocated away from O‘ahu’s drinking water and ideally be rebuilt above ground.
Submit your testimony in support of SB2774 SD1 by the afternoon of Wednesday, February 19. Click here to submit your testimony, sample testimony provided below.
Sample testimony:
Aloha Chair Baker, Vice Chair Chang, and members of the committee,
I am writing today in strong support of SB2774 SD1, prohibiting the operation of underground storage systems with a capacity of 100,000 gallons or more, mauka of the underground injection control line, after 1/1/2028.
As a water drinker, I am incredibly concerned that the underground storage tanks at the U.S. Navy’s Red Hill storage facility remain in operation directly above a major water source. The Red Hill tanks are over 75 years old and have a long history of leaking fuel into the surrounding environment. This facility alone has leaked over 200,000 gallons since construction, most recently releasing 27,000 gallons of fuel in 2014—none of which was ever located or cleaned up. More upsetting is that the Navy’s own recent study shows that the tanks at Red Hill have a 27.6% chance of leaking 30,000 gallons of fuel every year and that they expect chronic fuel leaks of 5,800 gallons every year. I cannot stand idly by while there is such a massive threat to Oʻahu’s drinking water security and I invite you to join me by passing this much needed bill.
There is no tank upgrade option that provides as much security as the relocation of the Navy’s fuel away from drinking water resources.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this important matter.
Sincerely,
[your name]