Defense secretary calls closing Red Hill ‘right thing to do’

TL;DR - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Friday and met with newly formed Joint Task Force Red Hill’s commander, Rear Adm. John Wade, to discuss plans to defuel the facility.

In September, Austin appointed Wade to lead the task force, which will be responsible for carrying out defueling operations in partnership with the state Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to a Pentagon news release, Austin also met with state officials as well as with several families affected when jet fuel from the underground facility entered the Navy’s Red Hill water well and contaminated the service’s water system, which serves some 93,000 people on Oahu.

October 1, 2022: Defense secretary calls closing Red Hill ‘right thing to do’, Honolulu Star-Advertiser