Haleakalā fuel spill remediation comment period open through Sept. 15

The public comment period is open through Sept. 15 on the remediation project for a fuel spill that occurred at Haleakalā’s summit on Maui last year.

A lightning strike occurred on Jan. 29, 2023, that resulted in the emergency generator fuel spill. Contractor personnel working on the Maui Space Surveillance Complex site discovered the leak the following day, on Jan. 30, 2023. An estimated 700 gallons of fuel leaked onto the generator pad and the surrounding soil, impacting approximately 750 square feet (6.5 feet (ft) wide by 115 ft long) of surface soil. The fuel was a mixture of low sulfur diesel and Jet A fuel oil, respectively.

Notifications of the spill were made to State of Hawai‘i Department of Health and the United States Environmental Protection Agency on Jan. 30, 2023.

The US Space Force reports that several significant environmental actions have been completed since the incident.

GSI Pacific, a Native Hawaiian-owned company, was contracted to perform the recovery work. Cultural advisors and archaeological monitors, both from Maui, have been on site throughout the process in the event human remains or other cultural deposits are encountered during ground-disturbing activities. 

This important next phase is aimed at safely restoring the sacred grounds at Haleakalā, while carefully balancing both the regulatory and cultural needs at the site.  

The response action memorandum, or RAM, is available for public viewing here, at the Kihei, Kahului, Makawao and Wailuku libraries, and the county council and mayor’s office. Additionally, a synopsis of the recommendation, active bioventing, is available here. 

Questions and comments may be submitted until Sept. 15, 2024, to Jennifer Wehrmann, Remedial Project Manager, AFCEC/CZOP, 10471 20th Street, Suite 343, JBER, AK 99506-2201; by phone at 800-222-4137, or by e-mail at pacaf.czop.remotesites@us.af.mil. Those questions and comments will be considered before a final selection is made.

The US Space Force’s Space Delta 2 operates the 15th SPSS and the Maui Space Surveillance Complex. The team hosts small, medium, and large aperture tracking optics and conducts classified space domain awareness missions, serving a critical role in national security. “This mission is crucial to defense capabilities, but also enables GPS, internet banking, and weather monitoring crucial to the detection of natural disasters, as well as many other functions vital to society,” according to the US Space Force.