Navy points written reprimands for gas spill that sickened 6,000 folks at Pearl Harbor base

HONOLULU — The Navy on Thursday issued written reprimands to a few now-retired navy officers for his or her roles within the spill of jet gas into Pearl Harbor’s consuming water in 2021 however didn’t fireplace, droop, dock the pay or scale back the rank of anybody for the incident.

The spill from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility poisoned 1000’s of navy households and continues to threaten the purity of Honolulu’s water provide.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro issued censure letters to the three rear admirals, the Navy stated in a information launch. He additionally revoked private navy decorations awarded to 5 rear admirals, three captains and one commander.

“Taking accountability is a step in restoring trust in our relationship with the community,” Del Toro stated in an announcement.

The spill “was not acceptable,” and the Navy will proceed “to take every action to identify and remedy this issue,” he stated.

A Navy investigation final 12 months concluded a collection of errors brought on the gas to leak right into a nicely that provided water to housing and places of work in and round Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. About 6,000 folks suffered nausea, complications, rashes and different signs.

The investigation concluded operator error brought on a pipe to rupture when gas was being transferred between tanks on May 6, 2021, main 21,000 gallons to spill. Most of this liquid flowed into a fireplace suppression line and sat there for six months, inflicting the road to sag. A cart then rammed into the drooping line on Nov. 20, releasing 20,000 gallons (75,700 liters) of gas that entered a French drain and the consuming water nicely.

The spill got here though the Navy for years reassured Oahu residents their water was protected regardless of Red Hill’s historical past of leaks, together with when 27,000 gallons seeped from one tank.

The water poisoning upset folks throughout Hawaii, together with veterans, environmentalists, Native Hawaiians, liberals and conservatives.

Wayne Tanaka, director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, known as the reprimands “outrageous” contemplating the harm finished and the continued menace the leak poses to an aquifer beneath the tanks.

“Just to have these written slaps on the wrist is insulting to our people, to our dignity,” Tanaka stated.

After months of resistance, the navy agreed to an order from the state of Hawaii to empty the World War II-era tanks. It has spent the previous 12 months repairing gear on the facility to soundly take away the gas starting subsequent month. It expects to complete by Jan. 19.

Three officers acquired letters of censure from Del Toro: Retired Rear Adm. Peter Stamatopoulos, who was the commander of Naval Supply Systems Command in the course of the May and November spills; Rear Adm. (retired) John Korka, who was commander of the Navy Facilities Engineering Command Pacific earlier than the 2 spills; and Rear Adm. (retired) Timothy Kott, who was the commander of Navy Region Hawaii in the course of the November spill.

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, stated in an announcement that true accountability for the catastrophe would require the Navy to handle “systemic command and control failures, and a lack of requisite attention to infrastructure.”

She famous the Navy’s investigation discovered {that a} tradition of complacency, an absence of important pondering, and an absence of well timed communication contributed to the spill.

“I have yet to see adequate evidence that Navy leadership is treating these service-wide issues with the seriousness or urgency they demand,” Hirono stated in an announcement.