Pentagon to shut down leaking fuel tank facility in Hawaii
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press has learned that the Defense Department will permanently shut down the Navy’s massive fuel tank facility in Hawaii that leaked petroleum into Pearl Harbor’s tap water, and will remove all the fuel.
That word comes from a senior defense official who says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the decision Monday based on a new Pentagon assessment.
The decision also is in line with an order from Hawaii’s Department of Health to drain fuel from the tanks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
The tanks had leaked into a drinking water well and contaminated water at Pearl Harbor homes and offices.
Nearly 6,000 people, mostly those living in military housing at or near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam were sickened.
