When most people conjure up thoughts of the Hawaiian Islands, they think of a paradise of unsurpassed beauty. It's a good bet that hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic fuel seeping into the environment isn't part of the bucolic image.
On January 22, 2025, Senior U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi denied a request by the U.S. Navy to dismiss claims made by Wai Ola Alliance. The lawsuit had been dismissed in 2024, but the judge allowed Wai Ola Alliance to submit an amended complaint with detailed claims.
Things Fall Apart
The site under question is the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility located near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Construction on the facility, which long supplied fuel for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, began in 1940. It was finished in 1943. Built in a cavity under 100 feet of rock, the facility's 20 steel-lined tanks can hold up to a maximum of 250 million gallons of fuel.
Fuel was delivered to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) by three pipelines that ran 2.5 miles to the base's piers. Located 100 feet above Oahu's main aquifer that supplies water to three-quarters of the island's population, there was concern after a leak of 27,000 gallons of fuel in 2014. The Navy claimed the spill was a fluke.
Between 2019 and 2022, there were four instances of toxic firefighting foam containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) being spilled, with three lacking proof of proper cleanup. Again, the Navy insisted that the facility was safe.
The credibility of that claim suffered a mortal blow with back-to-back fuel leaks in 2021. 20,000 gallons of fuel contaminated the drinking supply of 90,000 people living and working on or near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Over 6,000 were forced to seek medical assistance as a result.
A combined committee that included the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army had failed to operate the facility safely. In March of 2022, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III ordered the defueling and closing of the Red Hill facility. The fuel was reallocated to West Oahu, California, and the Philippines.
Is the Cleanup Insufficient?
In the lawsuit, Wai Ola Alliance alleges that the Red Hill facility violated the Clean Water Act, a 1977 Amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972. They charge that the fuel spills and firefighting foam incidents have contaminated groundwaters and that the Department of Health-approved discharge of wastewater is contaminating Hawala Stream and Pearl Harbor.
Wai Ola Alliance charges that the shutting down of the Red Hill facility is not enough. The suit demands that the U.S. Navy be required for any and all cleanup necessary from the pollution and contamination the multiple spills inflicted on the environment. Estimates put the amount of fuel spilled during the facility's lifetime at over 1.9 million gallons.
While most of the fuel is gone and the Navy has vowed never to use the base to store it again, the cleanup is far from over. The Navy still must remove sludge from the tanks and fuel lines.
Aloha to Fuel and PFAs
In addition to the cleanup action, Judge Kobayashi is presiding over a bench trial between 17 plaintiffs who were sickened by the Pearl Harbor fuel spill and the U.S. government. Unsurprisingly, there's a large difference between the amount the plaintiffs are requesting and what the government feels they're owed.
By invoking the Clean Water Act, Wai Ola Alliance is attempting to force the U.S. Navy into removing toxins from Hawaii. The court will decide if the decks have been swabbed thoroughly enough.
Related Resources
- 'Forever Chemicals' Attract Growing Legal Challenges (FindLaw's Courtside)
- Overview: Key Federal Environmental Laws (FindLaw's Business Laws and Regulations)
- How Can You Sue the Military? (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
