US Air Force

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Jet Fuel

The US Air Force (USAF) is the single largest consumer of jet fuel in the world. The F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour and peaks at 14,400 gallons per hour at supersonic speeds. The B-52 Stratocruiser, with eight jet engines, guzzles 55 gallons per minute. A quarter of the world’s jet fuel feeds the USAF fleet of flying killing machines.[1][2]

Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility

See Also: Ka Pae Aina

Red Hills storage facility location and its close proximity to vital aquifers. Credit: EPA

On January, 13th 2014 27,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked from the storage tanks at the US Air Force's Red Hills Fuel Storage Facility in Moanalua.[3] The storage tanks at this cite are the biggest of their kind in the so called United States and sit only 100 feet above one of Oʻahu's main aquifers. The fuel tank leaks continue to this day, in part because the storage containers are old and small holes were found and claimed as the cause of the leak,[4] additionally there has been petroleum found in water sources.[5] [6]

On May 6th, 2021 another leak occurred at the Red Hills Fuel Storage Facility releasing 19,000 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel into other storage containers causing pressure buildup in neighboring fuel lines. The spilled fuel remained in the other pipeline for six months before rupturing and spilling fuel into the tunnel system near the Red Hill drinking water system shaft.[7] Residents were still feeling side effects resulting from contaminated water a year later according to a survey conducted, but the actual number of effected residents was likely underestimated. 80% of respondents to the survey, 788 people, reported symptoms in the last 30 days such as headaches, skin irritation, fatigue and difficulty sleeping. Of those who were pregnant during the crisis, 72% experienced complications.[8] The Navy has pumped and dumped over a billion gallons of water from Oahu’s primary aquifer in an effort to clean up the fuel contamination and has assured residents that the drinking water is safe despite continued reports of people feeling side effects after ingesting water.[9]

"Though the Pentagon has committed to shutting down the Red Hill fuel tanks within two years... A report released in June 2022 states that the U.S. Navy was negligent in the maintenance of the fuel tanks, resulting in (preventable) leaks. The U.S. Navy has begun to defuel some pipelines but is proposing to have the fuel tanks closed by 2027 and to stay in place for potential use in the future."[10] [11]

Forever Chemicals

The EPA and state Health Department said in a letter to the Navy that PFAS ― known as forever chemicals ― were detected in groundwater samples on Dec. 20 and 27, 2021 relating to fuel leakages at the Red Hill military fuel storage site.[12] Hawaii News Now reported about the contamination of groundwater before the letter- [13] The reporting came after some 1,300 gallons of AFFF concentrate was spilled inside a tunnel at the Navy’s underground Red Hill fuel facility on Nov. 29 2022[14]

Aqueous film forming foam, also known as AFFF, was released on the upper end of the facility into the aboveground soil and into the underground facility, the health department said in a news release. AFFF is used to suppress fuel fires and contains chemicals known as PFAS that are linked to cancer and other health problems. PFAS chemicals are notorious environmental contaminants because they are “forever chemicals” that don’t break down in the environment.[15]


Hawaii Occupation

Test Bombing

Sources

  1. ↑ https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Climate_change_denial
  2. ↑ https://truthout.org/articles/the-military-assault-on-global-climate/
  3. ↑ https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/navy-red-hill-fuel-timeline
  4. ↑ https://www.staradvertiser.com/2014/06/22/breaking-news/more-tiny-holes-found-in-leaking-red-hill-fuel-storage-tank/
  5. ↑ https://www.civilbeat.org/beat/navy-stops-red-hill-pipeline-leak-of-fuel-and-water-that-began-saturday/
  6. ↑ https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2021/12/01/live-doh-discusses-latest-investigation-into-possible-tainted-water/
  7. ↑ https://www.epa.gov/red-hill/about-red-hill-fuel-releases
  8. ↑ https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/11/hundreds-of-red-hill-families-still-sick-a-year-later-survey-finds/
  9. ↑ https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/11/hundreds-of-red-hill-families-still-sick-a-year-later-survey-finds/
  10. ↑ https://guides.westoahu.hawaii.edu/alohaaina/redhillfueltanks
  11. ↑ https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/03/09/pentagon-concedes-red-hill-tanks-pose-imminent-threat-aquifer/
  12. ↑ https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/12/13/bws-says-navy-detected-pfas-forever-chemicals-drinking-water-pearl-harbor-base-last-year-2020/
  13. ↑ https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/12/10/epa-doh-letter-reveals-pfas-forever-chemicals-detected-groundwater-near-red-hill-last-december/
  14. ↑ https://www.epa.gov/red-hill/fire-suppressant-afff-spill
  15. ↑ https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/11/a-new-leak-at-red-hill-dumps-hundreds-of-gallons-of-firefighting-foam/
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