Bill Text: HI HCR6 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requesting The United States Department Of Defense To Prepare A Plan To Decommission The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, Store Its Fuel Away From The Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer In A Manner Compliant With Federal And State Law, Prepare A Plan To Establish A New Water Treatment Facility, Pay For All Costs To The State, And Comply With All Future Remediation Efforts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 46-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-04-26 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HCR6 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-HCR6-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
6 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO PREPARE A PLAN TO DECOMMISSION THE RED HILL BULK FUEL STORAGE FACILITY, STORE ITS FUEL AWAY FROM THE SOUTHERN OAHU BASAL AQUIFER IN A MANNER COMPLIANT WITH FEDERAL AND STATE LAW, PREPARE A PLAN TO ESTABLISH A NEW WATER TREATMENT FACILITY, PAY FOR ALL COSTS TO THE STATE, AND COMPLY WITH ALL FUTURE REMEDIATION EFFORTS.
WHEREAS, under Article XI, section 7 of the Hawaii State Constitution, the "State has an obligation to protect, control and regulate the use of Hawaii's water resources for the benefit of its people"; and
WHEREAS, the importance of fresh water in Native Hawaiian culture cannot be overstated; and
WHEREAS, the common Hawaiian term for water, wai, is incorporated within the Hawaiian term for law, kānāwai, and the Hawaiian term for wealth, waiwai; and
WHEREAS, the common Hawaiian phrase Ola I Ka Wai translates directly to the lived experience of life in Hawaii and around the world, "water is life"; and
WHEREAS, Pu‘uloa, later named Pearl Harbor, was once a hyper productive wetland with Oahu's highest concentration of fishponds; however, Pu‘uloa and the surrounding environment has been irrevocably altered by the United States military; and
WHEREAS, the United States Navy is the owner and operator of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which is a field-constructed underground storage tank system on Oahu, located approximately two and a half miles northeast of Pearl Harbor; and
WHEREAS, the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility was constructed during World War II and began operation in 1943; it occupies approximately one hundred forty-four acres of land along the edge of the Koolau Range, situated on a topographic ridge that divides the Halawa Valley and Moanalua Valley; and
WHEREAS, the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which consists of twenty field-constructed underground storage tanks, pipelines, and other infrastructure, is used to store marine diesel and two types of jet fuel and provides fuel to domestic military services that operate in the Pacific Area of Responsibility; and
WHEREAS, the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility sits approximately one hundred feet directly above the Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer; and
WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has designated the Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer as one of nine sole-source aquifers in the Environmental Protection Agency Region IX and has previously determined that this aquifer is the "principal source of drinking water" for Oahu, which if contaminated, "would create a significant hazard to public health"; and
WHEREAS, on November 28, 2021, users of the Navy's Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system complained of a fuel odor coming from the water and an oily sheen on water; and
WHEREAS, numerous residents reported their families and pets experienced health issues after consuming the water, including rashes, mouth sores, stomach aches, vomiting, burning eyes, sore throats, headaches, and nausea; and
WHEREAS, on November 29, 2021, the Department of Health issued an advisory to all users of the Navy's water system to avoid using the tap water for drinking, cooking, or oral hygiene and that users who detect a fuel odor from their water should avoid using the water for drinking, cooking, bathing, dishwashing, laundry, or oral hygiene; and
WHEREAS, as a direct result of the water contamination, over three thousand residents were required to move out of their homes, and several businesses shut down or limited operations; and
WHEREAS, several Hawaii public schools and child development centers on the Navy water system were also impacted by the water contamination, forced to close off sinks and water fountains and use only bottled water for handwashing, dishwashing, and drinking purposes; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu Board of Water Supply (Honolulu Board of Water Supply), to protect its drinking water system, has shut down multiple water sources, including the Halawa Shaft, which supplies approximately twenty percent of water to urban Honolulu; and
WHEREAS, the suspected source of the water contamination was a November 20, 2021, release of approximately fourteen thousand gallons of a mixture of water and fuel from a crack in a fire suppression drain line at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; and the United States Navy has identified JP-5, or jet fuel, in the Red Hill Shaft, one of the drinking water sources for the Navy water system; and
WHEREAS, as of December 3, 2021, the Department of Health had received nearly five hundred complaints, mostly from residents or customers served by the Navy water system, of fuel or chemical smells from the drinking water; and
WHEREAS, fuel has entered the Oahu groundwater aquifer, with data suggesting that fuel that has already leaked into the aquifer will migrate through porous rocks toward the Halawa Shaft; and
WHEREAS, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has indicated that the worst-case scenario would be to permanently consider the shutdown of Halawa Shaft, Halawa Well, and Aiea Well and that these wells will not be used again until the Board of Water Supply has one hundred percent confidence that they will not be contaminated by migrating fuel from Red Hill; and
WHEREAS, the continuing Red Hill water pollution crisis may have a significant impact on the state economy due to a necessary pause or moratorium on the issuance of new water permits by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, necessary remediation, and the housing and health concerns of thousands of residents; and
WHEREAS, the probability of an acute leak of between one thousand to thirty thousand gallons of fuel each year is at least twenty-seven percent, which is likely understated; and
WHEREAS, on December 6, 2021, the Department of Health issued an emergency order requiring the United States Department of Defense, Navy to immediately suspend operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, as it represents "an imminent peril to human health and safety or the environment" and also take measures to treat contaminated drinking water at the Red Hill Shaft and safely remove fuel from the twenty underground storage tanks at Red Hill; and
WHEREAS, the emergency order notes that under section 342L-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, if the Governor or Director of Health determines that an "imminent peril to human health and safety or the environment" exists, the Governor or Director of Health may order any person to immediately reduce or stop the release or activity and take any and all other actions as may be necessary; and
WHEREAS, the emergency order states that the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility does not provide necessary environmental protection to rapidly identify and remediate fuel leaks; and
WHEREAS, the emergency order also states that, given the number of incidents that have occurred at Red Hill over the last year, and in view of the current drinking water contamination, the United States Navy has not demonstrated and cannot ensure that immediate and appropriate response actions are available or will be available should another release occur in the future; and
WHEREAS, on January 3, 2022, the Department of Health upheld the December 6, 2021, emergency order; and
WHEREAS, on January 3, 2022, the Department of Health issued its Final Decision, Order, Findings of Fact, and Conclusions of Law, upholding the December 6, 2021, emergency order and specifically finding that the release of additional fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility is inevitable, as the Red Hill underground storage tanks have a history of leaking and will continue to leak; and
WHEREAS, the United States Navy has previously decommissioned antiquated storage tanks at Naval Base Kitsap, Washington, and Naval Base Point Loma, California, and therefore has the ability to remediate the significant environmental contamination caused by the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; decommission the antiquated underground storage tanks at Red Hill; and store fuel in compliance with current legal and technological standards; and
WHEREAS, it is the intent of this body to improve trust between the residents of Oahu and the United States Navy and engage in planning between federal, state, and county agencies to ensure the safety of Oahu's water supply for future generations; and
WHEREAS, on March 7, 2022, the United States Secretary of the Defense ordered the closure of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and began the process of determining how to remove the remaining fuel from the facility; and
WHEREAS, the Secretary of Defense directed the Secretary of the Navy and Director of the Defense Logistics Agency to provide a plan, no later than May 31, 2022, with milestones to defuel the facility with a target to complete the defueling within twelve months; and
WHEREAS, as of March 2022, United States Senator Brian Schatz has secured a total of $250,000,000 in federal funding to defuel and decommission the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; and
WHEREAS, as of March 28, 2022, United States President Joseph R. Biden has proposed the creation of the $1,000,000,000 Red Hill Recovery Fund to fund infrastructure and defueling at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; and
WHEREAS, despite the announcement of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility's closure, much remains to be done to ensure that the Red Hill site is remediated of all fuel and contaminants and that Oahu's sole-source aquifer is protected; and
WHEREAS, because of well and shaft closures, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has been forced to pump additional water from its other remaining wells, increasing the risk that salt water will be drawn into those wells; and
WHEREAS, on March 10, 2022, in recognition of these challenges and ongoing drought conditions the Honolulu Board of Water Supply asked Oahu residents, businesses, and government agencies to voluntarily reduce their water usage by ten percent; and
WHEREAS, potential water shortages may adversely impact new construction and affordable housing development; and
WHEREAS, on April 1, 2022, the Hawaii Department of Health was notified of an additional release of approximately thirty gallons of a fuel and water mixture from a maintenance line connected to Tank 15 at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and is currently investigating the matter; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the United States Department of Defense, Navy, is requested to prepare a plan to decommission the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; store its fuel away from the Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer in a manner that is compliant with federal and state law; prepare a plan to establish a new water treatment facility adjacent to Red Hill; pay for all costs to the State, and comply with all future remediation efforts to Oahu's environment and water supply; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the intent of this body to:
(1) Hold the United States Department of Defense, Navy, accountable for the significant and foreseeable costs to the State as the result of the ongoing Red Hill water pollution crisis;
(2) Ensure that the United States Department of Defense, Navy, remediates the damage caused to the Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer, land surrounding the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, and Pearl Harbor; and
(3) Ensure that any such remediation meets the standards set under state and federal law; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body agrees with the December 6, 2021, Department of Health emergency order; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Department of Defense, Navy, and Director of Defense Logistics Agency is requested to submit the requested plans to the Legislature, Department of Health, and Honolulu Board of Water Supply in an expedient manner; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, United States Secretary of Defense, United States Secretary of the Navy, Director of Defense Logistics Agency, members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, Governor, Director of Health, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Manager and Chief Engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.
Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility; United States Department of Defense; United States Navy; Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer; Decommission; Remediation
