Report: Navy’s Hawaii fuel tanks need repair before draining
HONOLULU (AP) — A contractor hired by the Navy is recommending a series of structural repairs to a massive fuel tank farm in Hawaii to make sure the facility doesn’t leak petroleum when its tanks are drained, a report released Friday said.
The recommendations for the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility come after the complex’s pipes leaked fuel into Pearl Harbor’s tap water last year, sickening thousands of military families. The Pentagon has since agreed to comply with a state order to drain the tanks and permanently shut them down.
The highest priority repair identified in the report from the engineering company Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Inc. is designing piping to withstand a repeat of a May 2021 event that caused a pipe leak. The report indicated this work was already underway.
Corroded piping, damaged coating, damaged and reconfigured pipe supports and missing bracing will also need to be addressed, it said.
“This report describes extensive and critical repairs that are needed to safely defuel and decommission Red Hill,” Kathleen Ho, the state’s deputy director of environmental health, said in a statement.
The Navy has a June 30 deadline to inform the state Department of Health when and how it plans to drain the fuel.
Related News
From Archive
- OSHA issues 16 citations following fatal sewer confined space incident
- 27 pipeline safety violations tied to deadly Pa. chocolate factory explosion
- Contractor gas line strike triggers home explosion in Missouri
- LA recovery reports call for $650 million power line burial, major utility upgrades in Pacific Palisades
- Comprehensive microtrenching FAQ: Key insights on the Vermeer MTR516 microtrencher
- T-Mobile to expand fiber broadband infrastructure footprint with $4.9 billion Metronet acquisition
- First tunnel boring machines complete testing for Hudson Tunnel Project
- NWPX grows water infrastructure portfolio with Colorado precast facility
- Cityside launches $100 million fiber build in Corona, Calif.
- FiberLight to build 1,400-mile West Texas dark fiber network in $350 million expansion

Comments