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For Immediate Release
January 4, 2022

BWS Supports Decision by the Department of Health Deputy Director on Upholding the State’s Emergency Order Regarding Red Hill

HONOLULU – The Board of Water Supply commends the Department of Health for upholding in its entirety the Emergency Order requiring the Navy to immediately suspend fuel storage operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, expeditiously install a drinking water treatment system at the Navy’s Red Hill Shaft drinking water well, and promptly take action to defuel the Red Hill underground storage tanks. 

The Department of Health’s final order makes clear that the Red Hill facility constitutes an imminent peril to human health and the environment, that it places Oahu’s sole-source aquifer at significant risk of further contamination, and that immediate action is necessary to protect our critical drinking water resources.  The BWS encourages the Navy to stop fighting the emergency order and to accept the reality that the current Red Hill facility has reached the end of its useful life.  The Red Hill facility must be defueled and the fuel relocated away from Oahu’s irreplaceable aquifer to ensure the purity of our drinking water for present and future generations.

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About the Board of Water Supply

The Board of Water Supply (BWS), a semi-autonomous agency of the City and County of Honolulu, manages Oahu’s municipal water resources and distribution system.  As the largest water utility in the State, the BWS serves approximately one million customers on Oahu.  The BWS embraces its mission of “Water for Life – Ka Wai Ola” – to provide a safe, dependable, and affordable water supply, now and into the future.  Uwē  ka lani, ola ka honua – “When the heavens weep, the earth lives.”  For more information, visit www.boardofwatersupply.com, follow @BWSHonolulu or like the BWS’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BWSHonolulu.

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Contact:

Kathleen Elliott-Pahinui
Information Officer
Honolulu Board of Water Supply
Phone: (808) 748-5319