Removing Red Hill Tanks Poses ‘High Risk,’ Navy Report Says

TL;DR - The U.S. Navy is officially recommending that its Red Hill fuel storage complex, once drained of petroleum, be kept in place in perpetuity instead of being filled with concrete or removed altogether, according to a Navy letter and third-party analysis submitted to the Hawaii Department of Health on Thursday.

An effort to remove the tanks from the ground would pose a “high risk for catastrophic events and loss of life during construction,” according to a report by an engineering consultant Jacobs Government Services Co.

Leaving the World War II-era tanks, pipelines and tunnels is place is the “optimal closure method,” Rear Adm. Stephen Barnett, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, wrote in a letter to the health department.

December 22, 2022: Removing Red Hill Tanks Poses ‘High Risk,’ Navy Report Says, Honolulu Civil Beat

December 23, 2022: Navy requests 'closure-in-place' plan for Red Hill underground fuel tanks, Hawaiʻi Public Radio