DOH to review updated Red Hill defueling plan

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Health received an updated defueling plan this week for the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (Supplement 2). The plan, submitted by Joint Task Force-Red Hill, moves up defueling to begin in October 2023.

“We are encouraged by the updated Red Hill defueling timeline,” said Deputy Director of Environmental Health Kathleen Ho. “Moving up the timeline is a testament to the continued work by DOH and the community to push the Joint Task Force to move quickly and safely to defuel Red Hill. We will carefully review this submission to ensure that the updated timeline and plan can be executed safely without any further risk to the environment.”

“We acknowledge the ongoing efforts by the US Department of Defense and hope for a faster defueling and permanent closure of Red Hill. Doing so as quickly and safely as possible is important for the health of our people and state,” said Governor Josh Green.

DOH continues to review JTF-RH’s submissions on repairs, operations, and spill mitigation and response actions in preparation of defueling the Red Hill facility.

Click here to view the updated defueling plan.