Monday marked the third day of venting fumes from the massive underground fuel tanks at Red Hill. And so far, so good.
The military calls it the "degassing" of 16 tanks that have been drained of jet fuel and diesel.
The operation started Thursday afternoon and will take place Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
JoAnna Delfin, the deputy public affairs officer for Navy Closure Task Force-Red Hill, spoke with The Conversation about how the operation is progressing. She said the process is expected to take three to six weeks.
"Everything that we're doing has been done in the past. The Navy has done it in the past. I will say, however, one thing that we're doing that is new is air quality monitoring," Delfin told HPR.
She said there are nine air monitors set up in the neighboring communities, including the Halawa Correctional Facility where some 600 inmates are housed.
"Thus far, the winds, thankfully, have been working, you know, working out very well for us. We haven't had any spike in our air monitoring since we started operations," Delfin said.
The military is in the process of cleaning and shutting down the underground fuel tank complex that poisoned 6,000 people when it leaked jet fuel into Pearl Harbor's drinking water in 2021.
The military agreed to drain the tanks after the spill sparked an outcry in Hawaiʻi and concerns about the threat the tanks posed to Honolulu's water supply. The military has said it plans to close the Red Hill facility by January 2027.
This interview aired on The Conversation on June 3, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
