The May 6 Red Hill leak was absolutely not contained, data shows
Remember last week at the Fuel Tank Advisory Committee meeting when the Health Department eluded to data that showed elevated levels of fuel contaminants in soil vapor measurements following the May 6 leak? Well, we got ahold of that data…
And the “volatile organic compounds” levels (an indicator of contamination) were OVER ONE THOUSAND TIMES HIGHER than the levels just two weeks prior to the leak. On May 13, soil vapor monitor readings below tank 20 showed 232,667 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) compared to levels at 173-223 ppbv in the weeks leading up to the leak.
OUT-RAGE-OUS! So much for the Navy’s claims that they “properly collected” the released fuel. This data, from the Navy itself, shows that the leaked fuel made its way out of the Red Hill facility and into the environment beneath the tanks. What’s conspicuously missing from this data are readings from the days immediately following the leak, readings start on May 10th, some as late as May 20th.
This just goes to show that the Navy absolutely cannot be trusted with our groundwater and that the Red Hill tanks must be retired immediately. Any amount of leaked fuel into the environment is too much fuel—and the Navy considers this to be a small leak. Let’s not forget that there’s a 27.6% chance that the tanks will leak 1,000-30,000 gallons of fuel a year.
We are doubling down on our call to shut down the Red Hill facility. We have some juicy things in the works to keep up the pressure that we’ll be ready to share with you very soon. In the meantime, please consider making a donation to support the relentless work of holding the Navy accountable, signing our petition if you haven’t already and spreading the word about the tanks and their inherent risk to Oʻahu’s drinking water safety with everyone you know.
The Navy has demonstrated that it is unable to deliver on its promises to protect our water from their fuel and our drinking water cannot continue to be put at risk like this.