Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Hawaii

Hawaii governor urges Navy to suspend operations at World War II-era fuel tank amid water contamination

Navy service members recently reported smelling fuel in their drinking water

Paul Best By Paul Best Fox News
Published
close
Fox News Flash top headlines for December 6 Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for December 6

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Hawaii Governor David Ige and congressional leaders from the state urged the U.S. Navy to suspend operations at a World War II-era underground fuel tank facility after petroleum was detected in drinking water in the Pearl Harbor area. 

"Test results confirming contamination of drinking water at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam show that the Navy is not effectively operating the World War II-era facility and protecting the health and safety of the people of Hawaii," Gov. Ige said in a statement Sunday evening, along with U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, and U.S. Reps. Ed Cases and Kaiali’i Kahele. 

"We are calling for the Navy to immediately suspend operations at Red Hill while they confront and remedy this crisis."

This photo shows a tunnel inside the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Jan. 26, 2018. The state of Hawaii says a laboratory has detected petroleum product in a water sample from an elementary school near Pearl Harbor. (U.S. Navy via AP)

The Red Hill fuel storage facility consists of 20 underground steel-lined tanks that can hold up to 250 million gallons of fuel. Construction on the facility started in 1940 after the Roosevelt administration expressed concerns about the vulnerability of above-ground tanks. 

HIKER DISCOVERS ALCOHOLIC STREAM IN HAWAII

The Navy ran tests on its water distribution system last week after nearly 1,000 military households complained that their water smelled like fuel and was making them sick. One test showed "petroleum hydrocarbons roughly four to ten times below the Hawaii Department of Health Environmental Action Level" and another test "confirmed vapors."

"Based on the findings, the Navy will work with DOH to revise the public health guidance and develop the way ahead so our families and other impacted people can return to a normal life with a safe, reliable water source," the Navy said in a statement on Dec. 3. 

  • Navy ships are anchored in the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on July 14, 2011, at the entrance to the Pacific Ocean. (Credit: MC2 Daniel Barker/Navy)
    Image 1 of 2

    Navy ships are anchored in the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on July 14, 2011, at the entrance to the Pacific Ocean.  (MC2 Daniel Barker/Navy)

  • FILE - In this Dec. 27, 2016, file photo, USS Arizona Memorial, part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. The National Park Service is working as fast as possible to reopen access to the USS Arizona Memorial after cracks were discovered last month on the floating concrete pier near the metal access ramp, officials said. Visitors to the memorial at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu are taken on a 15-minute narrated tour of Battleship Row instead of the usual docking at the site, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday, June 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
    Image 2 of 2

    In this Dec. 27, 2016, file photo, USS Arizona Memorial, part of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply shut down its largest water source on Oahu, Halawa Shaft, after the Navy reported that petroleum was detected. 

"We are deeply concerned that we were not notified immediately by the Navy regarding the shut down of their Red Hill water source," Chief Engineer Ernest Lau said in a statement on Dec. 3. "We have data that shows when they stop pumping at Red Hill, water starts moving in the direction of our Halawa Shaft due to our pumping."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The U.S. Navy is providing temporary lodging to service members and civilians affected by the water crisis at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. 

Paul Best is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to Paul.Best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest.