Leak Confirmed at Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility
The U.S. Navy has confirmed that there is indeed a leak in one of its fuel tanks at the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility near Pearl Harbor.
But it’s still not clear how much aviation fuel leaked and whether it escaped the underground facility that’s enshrined in concrete, according to Navy spokesman Tom Clements.
Test results on the groundwater and drinking water have yet to be released.
Meanwhile, the Navy is in the process of transferring the fuel contained in the 200-foot tall tank into another tank, which could take several days. The Navy discovered a discrepancy in the tank’s fuel levels on Monday.
The cylinder is capable of holding 12.6 million gallons of fuel, the Associated Press reports. (This is equivalent to the volume of 21 Olympic-sized swimming pools.)
The Red Hill storage facility was built in the early years of World War II and contains 20 massive fuel tanks. Once a military secret, the engineer feat includes a subway that transfers fuel to Pearl Harbor, running 450 feet underground. For more on the history of the facility, check out the Honolulu Advertiser’s 2007 article: Red Hill ‘Hides’ WWII Engineering Wonder.
Photo: A 2007 Navy tour of the Red Hill facility. (Wikimedia Commons)
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