Hawaii
Hawaii’s 2021 Red Hill jet fuel leak sickened thousands — but it wasn’t the first: “The system has failed us”
The week of Thanksgiving in 2021 quickly turned from one of fun with family and friends to something described as “post-apocalyptic” on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Jet fuel had unknowingly leaked from the Department of Defense’s largest underground fuel storage facility and seeped into the system that provides drinking water to thousands of military families and area residents.
Within days, “we were all fighting over water,” Mai Hall, who is Native Hawaiian and a military spouse, told CBS News.
“It was all over the neighborhood. … I was crying putting tape over the faucets because I just could not believe that I couldn’t drink the water, water that has been here for centuries,” she said. “…The system has failed us.”
Hall’s family is one of many still feeling the impacts of that jet fuel exposure even today. But that leak wasn’t the first that has occurred at the U.S. Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility — and it wasn’t the last.
Red Hill’s long history of issues and warnings
The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility was built in the early 1940s under a mountain ridge near Honolulu, Hawaii’s capital city, and consists of 20 steel-lined tanks encased in concrete. Each of those tanks is 250 feet tall, 100 feet in diameter and can hold roughly 12.5 million gallons of fuel — large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty from the top of the base to the torch.
Ernest Lau, manager and chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, told CBS News that the Navy’s records show at least 72 documented fuel releases from the facility.
“Probably over 180,000 gallons of fuel of different types that has been released over its 80-year history,” Lau said.
Navy Closure Task Force–Red Hill, which is overseeing the defueling and permanent closure of the site, told CBS News that while reports have identified approximately 70 fuel releases since the site was opened in 1942, the Navy has “accepted 58 of those claims” as part of a 2021 Contested Case Hearing. The Navy is working on confirming the number of releases of fuel and aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) —a fire suppressant that contains PFAS, otherwise known as “forever chemicals” that have been linked to a wide range of health issues, including cancers.
The most recent of those major fuel spills was in the fall of 2021, impacting Hall’s family. Initial reports from the Navy indicated there was a spill of 14,000 gallons at this time, but it was later determined that 19,377 gallons of jet fuel spilled when a cart hit and cracked a fire suppression system pipe that had been containing the fuel since it leaked out of a tank earlier in the year.
But two years before that, a risk analysis conducted by the Navy found a 27.6% chance “of an initiating event resulting in a fuel release between 1,000 and 30,000 gallons.”
That analysis was conducted after a spill was announced at the facility on Jan. 13, 2014, which at the time was holding three types of fuel — JP-5, JP-8 and diesel marine fuel, all of which are known to be harmful to human health when chronically exposed. The leak occurred when one of the underground tanks “experienced a release of 27,000 gallons of fuel due to a contractor’s error and an ineffective response and oversight,” the Navy says on its website.
The EPA wasn’t verbally notified until three days later and written notification to the EPA wasn’t issued until 10 days later.
“They didn’t even know that a spill had happened until someone actually checked on the tank and noticed that there was about a foot and a half of fuel that was missing,” Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a professor at the University of Hawaii Center for Hawaiian Studies, told CBS News. At the time, he was serving on the Water Resource Management Commission.
“The tanks are severely corroded,” he said. “I mean some of them, less of the thickness of a dime is the barrier between 100 million gallons of fuel and leakage.”
The task force told CBS News that “all fuel tanks experience corrosion” and that the Navy used “several strategies” to counteract it, including tank cleaning, inspection and repair, a process known as TIRM.
At the time of the spill, Beamer questioned Navy officials during meetings with the commission about the extent of the issue and how it could have occurred. He believes the incident was “probably the first large-scale spill that really caught everyone’s attention.” And while the Navy ultimately agreed to an Order of Consent with the health department, EPA and others, the commission still “worried that it might fail,” Beamer said.
“They assured me this would never happen again. This was just because of one faulty tank and they were going to come up with a whole system to fix the tanks,” he said. “…They assured me it was the most state-of-the-art facility. They looked me in the eye and told me … ‘We drink from the same aquifer as everyone, we would never poison our own people.’ And they lied, they lied about all of it.”
“We take our environmental stewardship seriously,” Capt. Mark Wheeler, the commander officer at the time of the Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor, said in a press release about the incident. “Our military personnel and families live here and drink the water, too.”
The 2014 spill was not the only incident involving Red Hill and other Naval operations.
“There were a number of warnings,” Wayne Tanaka, director of the Sierra Club of Hawai’i, told CBS News. “…There’s been multiple instances where even under the extreme scrutiny that was being applied to the Red Hill facility, the Navy simply could not operate in a manner that was safe for the environment and safe for people.”
As far back as 2017, the EPA said the “aging” facility posed a “significant environmental threat to Oahu’s groundwater.”
An Administrative Order on Consent between the EPA, Hawai’i State Department of Health, the U.S. Navy and the Defense Logistics Agency in 2015 shows that the Navy’s first-ever report to the Department of Health over a leak at the facility was in November 1998, “when petroleum-stained basalt cores were discovered beneath the tanks.” In the early 2000s, staining was found beneath 19 of the 20 tanks.
In 2012, the Hawai’i DOH issued an $80,000 fine to the Navy Public Works Center Makalapa Compound, a base yard for maintenance activities for Pearl Harbor Navy Region Hawai’i, after an inspection the year prior found they “failed to make a hazardous waste determination for corrosive wastes generated.” Instead of handling materials as hazardous waste, the DOH said they were “disposed of in the trash,” and that hazardous paints and fuels were stored in open containers, violating requirements.
A December 2021 emergency order from the Hawai’i DOH shows a litany of issues stemming from the facility.
On March 17 and June 2, 2020, there was a “release of a regulated substance to surface water.” And then in May 2021, just months before the catastrophic jet fuel leak at Red Hill, 1,618 gallons of fuel was released from a pipeline, 1,580 gallons of which was recovered. The missing fuel was “released into the environment,” the order says.
Two months later, another 150 gallons of a “regulated substance” was released at Kilo Pier into the surface water, roughly 110 gallons of which was recovered.
“Given the number of incidences that have occurred at the Facility within the last year, and in view of the current drinking water contamination, the Respondent [the U.S. Navy] has not demonstrated that immediate and appropriate response actions are available, and therefore cannot ensure that immediate and appropriate response actions will be available should another release occurs in the future,” the order states. “The risk of any additional contaminants in the aquifer or lack of immediate action now may exacerbate the current situation and further jeopardize our aquifer system.”
Despite long standing issues, Tanaka said it wasn’t until the November 2021 incident that local and federal officials took significant action.
“And that’s really scary because we can’t afford to have another incident like this happen again,” he said. “…The state has likened [Red Hill] to a ticking time bomb. … So the threat is immense. The threat is existential.”
As fuel spill victims head to trial, Navy continues effort to shut down the site
On Monday, victims who were impacted by the 2021 fuel contamination headed to trial to seek financial compensation from the U.S. government. Many of those who drank, bathed in and used tainted water for dishes and laundry say they are still dealing with various health impacts, including children.
The trial comes just under a year after attorneys for the Department of Justice filed a joint stipulation that stated “the United States does not dispute” the 2021 spill “caused a nuisance” and that the U.S. “breached its duty of care to the Resident Plaintiffs to exercise ordinary care in the operation of Red Hill.”
Since the 2021 spill and an additional leak of AFFF in 2022, the DOJ has ordered the permanent closure of the site. As of April 2024, “the vast majority of fuel and AFFF concentrate have been removed from the facility,” the task force told CBS News. However, there are still thousands of gallons of contaminants that remain in the site.
The task force said there’s an estimated 28,000 gallons of sludge in the 14 tanks. That waste is a mixture of fuel, water, direct, metal particles and microorganisms that form at the bottom of fuel tanks. Once removed, it will be stored in hazardous waste containers to be disposed of on the U.S. mainland.
There is also an estimated 4,000 gallons of residual fuel that must be removed from across nearly 10 miles of pipelines, the task force said.
“Our team will remove residual fuel before removing small sections of pipe, applying exacting safety protocols for each activity. The risk to the environment has been significantly reduced after removing approximately 104 million gallons of fuel during defueling and with the recent removal of over 1,000 gallons of AFFF from the facility,” the task force said, adding that the AFFF had been a “major threat to the aquifer.”
Tank cleaning operations could start soon, and will take place two tanks at a time. It’s expected that the cleaning process will take roughly 2 and a half years to complete. Removing the pipeline system will also take about 2 and a half years.
The task force added that “the health and welfare of all Navy drinking water users is the most important priority,” and said it will “continue our work to ensure the water continues to meet and comply with all state and federal safe drinking water requirements.”
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – If you grew up in Hawaii, a visit to your local Crackseed shop is likely a core childhood memory.
Let’s go holoholo to one of the oldest shops in Honolulu, Kay’s Crackseed.
Any time Lanette Mahelona of Kaneohe is in Manoa, a stop at Kay’s Crackseed is a must!
“I stop by here, and I always grab two pounds of this seedless creamy ume because it’s hard to find on our end of the island, Kaneohe,” said Mahelona.
Kay’s Crackseed sits in a four-hundred-square-foot shop at Manoa Marketplace.
The original owner, Kay, opened the shop in 1978 and ran it for 18 years.
Mei Chang now runs the shop. Her family took it over in 1996. They’ve been selling an assortment of crack seed and products, which Mei says is a healthy snack in the eyes of the Chinese.
“Yeah, so like the ginger, the Chinese always say it’s Chinese medicine, so they help your motion sickness, the stomach, and even the kumquat,” said Chang. “It’s like honey lime ball, if you catch a cold, sore throat, they help a lot.”
Customers are encouraged to sample the different treats.
Now working in a crack seed shop isn’t anything new for Chang.
She said these kinds of shops are in common in Taiwan that her grandparents used to sell different kinds of li hing mui.
Chang lived right above her grandparents’ shop and was in the second grade when she started helping them with the business.
“Every day when I finish school first thing open a jar,” said Chang. “I really like the football seed, so every day I eat a football seed for my snack.”
And talk about a full circle moment, her daughter would also help around the Manoa shop.
Through Kay’s Crackseed, Chang hopes to carry on traditional recipes she learned from her grandparents.
“Crack seed for us is not only the snack, but it’s like childhood memory, yeah, the happiness, so we try to keep doing the tradition. So, all the juice we make here is from our grandpa and grandma’s recipe,” said Chang. “So, a special yeah, secret sauce, so we have some customers that live far away, the other side of the island, drive so far to come here to get the li hing one. The wet li hing mui, the rock salt palm, is really popular.”
“The li hing mui ones are not as sweet, sweet as other places, and it’s soft,” said Crystal Kaluna of Kauai.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Kolekole Pass is officially allowed to be used as an evacuation route in the event of an emergency on West Oahu.
U.S. military and civilian officials signed an updated official memorandum of understanding Wednesday, opening Kolekole Pass for emergency use.
The first document was signed just prior to July 29, 2025, when Hawaii faced a tsunami warning, and the pass was opened for West Oahu residents to evacuate.
Nearly 500 vehicles made their way through the pass that day as many evacuated the Leeward Coast, officials said.
Maj. Gen. James Batholomees, U.S. Army Commander, Hawaii, was joined by his counterparts from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and the state Department of Transportation officers for Wednesday’s signing.
Batholomees said he took command the day before the tsunami warning.
“The next day, the first order that I had the blessing of giving was in conjunction with the Navy opening the pass during the tsunami,” he said.
Kupuna from the Leeward Coast also attended the signing, saying they were happy for a much-needed secondary route in the event that Farrington Highway is shut down.
Leeward Coast resident William Aila recalled when Farrington Highway was closed for 11 days due to Hurricane Iwa in 1982.
“We need an opportunity to bring in first aid, to bring in food, and to bring in other emergency supplies,” said Aila.
Officials say they are committed to conducting a mass evacuation rehearsal using Kolekole Pass every year.
Ed Sniffen, director of the state Department of Transportation, said it’s the key to a successful activation to use the route.
“The road is safe,” said Sniffen. “When we rode through this, and we did this twice with large operations, the road is safe.”
He added, “That being said, there are improvements that we still want to make.”
HDOT continues to work with the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy on upgrading the roadway, which may total $20 million in improvements.
Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
If you’ve driven Hana Highway recently, as we have, tried to wedge your rental car onto the shoulder at Honolua Bay, inched along North Shore behind an hours-long nonstop line of brake lights, or followed a social media pin taking you to Hoopii Falls, Hawaii just put those exact places into specific future plans.
The state updated plans naming specific beaches, roads, trails, and bays where visitor pressure is highest and outlining what officials say could change at each. The first round of these (DMAPs) leaned heavily on broader goals and community meetings. The latest version, however, now lists the individual sites and attaches proposed actions. These are among the most in-demand places people build into their trips, not some policy abstractions.
Before assuming your next trip will look dramatically different, one basic reality is worth noting. The Hawaii Tourism Authority does not manage the roads, trails, bays, or neighborhoods in question, so the counties, DLNR, Hawaiian Home Lands, and private landowners will be needed to carry out most of what has just been described. In almost every case, the first year at least is focused on more studies, coordination, and setting up of what might come next.
Maui: Hana and Honolua finally get specific plans.
Maui’s plan centers squarely on the iconic Hana Highway, with six of the island’s nine site-specific actions targeting that single corridor.
The ideas are relatively straightforward. Paid community stewards at high-traffic stops such as Keanae Peninsula, a first-of-its-kind Hawaii tour guide certification program requiring culturally accurate mo’olelo (storytelling), safety guidance, and place-based knowledge instead of loosely scripted commentary, together with clearer signage identifying safe and legal pullouts while reminding drivers to let residents pass instead of backing up traffic for visitor photo opportunities.
At Bamboo Forest off Hana Highway, the plan addresses repeated trespassing onto private land. There have been 35 rescues there over the past decade, most requiring use of emergency helicopters. The proposal calls for signage clearly indicating no access. But because that land is privately owned, any real restriction there depends on the owner’s full cooperation.
Honolua Bay carries perhaps the boldest concept of all in the statewide package of suggested changes, including a reservation and shuttle system to eliminate illegal roadside parking, a cultural trail staffed by stewards before visitors ever reach the water, and water stewards who will be paddling out to orient snorkel boat passengers. No procurement process has started, and no shuttle contract exists, so the idea remains on paper for now. Kaupo, where a recently paved road has attracted more traffic and complaints, would also get sensor-linked warning signs at blind hills to focus on driving safety.
Big Island: Kealakekua Bay may see closings.
Kealakekua Bay is the main headline site here, as might be expected. The draft introduces the possibility of “rest days” during coral spawning or other sensitive periods, coordinated by the DLNR, when the bay would be closed to visitors. It is still a concept and would require coordination beyond HTA.
At Keaukaha near Hilo, cruise ship impacts drive the conversation ideas, and the community has pushed for a permanent role in shaping how visitor flow is handled around the port. A steward program piloted in 2023 is now being formalized rather than remaining as a short-term experiment.
South Point, or Ka Lae, sits on Hawaiian Home Lands, so the state’s role here is to support the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ existing plan rather than create a new one from scratch. Hilo itself is described as needing more visitor activity even as other Big Island sites seek to manage crowding.
Oahu: North Shore, pillboxes, and parking reality.
On Oahu, it’s the iconic North Shore that anchors the plan. Five sequenced actions are listed, but the first year focuses on studies, coordination, and groundwork.
There is no shuttle system scheduled for immediate rollout and no reservation platform ready to launch. During the public webinar, officials said any fees would be site-specific and pointed to the extremely limited parking infrastructure as a major constraint.
Lanikai Pillboxes and Maili Pillbox are cited as trails that have seen steep increases in use due to social media exposure. Lanikai already has daytime parking restrictions on residential streets between 10 am and 4 pm, and Maili has experienced a recent fatality. The plan for Lanikai is to evaluate managed access, while for Maili, it begins with determining who is responsible for the trail and what authority exists in order to manage it.
Downtown Honolulu appears in the draft as a future walkable corridor linking Iolani Palace, Honolulu Hale, and nearby historic sites and shops.
Kauai: this waterfall became a neighborhood fight.
Hoopii Falls in Kapaa has become one of the most tense sites in the statewide plans. What was once a local waterfall became a high-traffic destination after intense social media exposure. The trail crosses private, lease, and state lands and is not formally maintained, and residents have placed rocks and tree stumps at neighborhood access points to slow or block visitor flow. The plan’s near-term focus is to gather more data and bring landowners together to clarify jurisdiction and what can legally be done before any formal access system is devised.
The Kapaa Crawl along Kuhio Highway is listed as a priority, but the proposed response, which is a shuttle and visitor hub concept centered on Coconut Marketplace, has no funding, no operator, and no timeline.
Kokee and Waimea Canyon are also included. Two of four proposed actions are already deferred beyond the first funding year, and the near-term steps focus has moved to installing visitor counters and studying whether a reservation system would be feasible.
What changes on your next trip.
Across all four islands, social media is repeatedly cited as a significant accelerant, turning lesser-known spots into must-see stops almost overnight. And in that regard, there is no end in sight.
There are no additional statewide fees attached to these newly identified sites, no disclosed budgets for even the most ambitious concepts, and HTA does not gain or lose any new enforcement authority through these drafts.
If you are visiting in the coming months, you are unlikely to encounter reservation systems at Honolua Bay, formalized rest-day closures at Kealakekua, shuttles operating on the North Shore, or state-managed access changes at Ho’opi’i. Most of what is described for year one is groundwork.
You can review the full island-by-island drafts here: https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/what-we-do/destination-management-action-plans/
Do these plans go far enough or too far at the sites you know best? Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
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