HONOLULU — Navy officials “lacked sufficient understanding” of the risks of maintaining massive fuel storage tanks on top of a drinking water well at Pearl Harbor where spilled jet fuel poisoned more than 6,000 people in 2021, a U.S. military watchdog said Thursday.

That lack of awareness came even though officials had engineering drawings and environmental studies that described the risks, the U.S. Department of Defense’s inspector general said.

The finding was among a long list of Navy failures identified by the inspector general in two reports that follow a yearslong investigation into the fuel leak at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Investigators said it was imperative for the Navy to address its management of fuel and water systems at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and recommended that the military assess leak detection systems at other Navy fuel facilities.

“The DoD must take this action, and others, to ensure that tragedies like the one in November of 2021 are not allowed to repeat,” Inspector General Robert P. Storch said in a statement.

The military built the Red Hill fuel tanks into the side of a mountain in the early 1940s to protect them from aerial attack. There were 20 tanks in all, each about the height of a 25-story building with the capacity to hold 12.5 million gallons (47.3 million liters.) The site was in the hills above Pearl Harbor and on top of an aquifer equipped with wells that provided drinking water to the Navy and to Honolulu’s municipal water system.

Fuel leaks at Red Hill had occurred before, including in 2014, prompting the Sierra Club of Hawaii and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply to ask the military to move the tanks to a place where they wouldn’t threaten Oahu’s water. But the Navy refused, saying the island’s water was safe.

The 2021 spill gushed from a ruptured pipe in May of that year. Most of it flowed into a fire suppression drain system, where it sat unnoticed for six months until a cart rammed a sagging line holding the liquid. Crews believed they mopped up most of this fuel but they failed to get about 5,000 gallons (19,000 liters.) Around Thanksgiving, the fuel flowed into a drain and drinking water well that supplied water to 90,000 people at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The inspector general’s report noted 4,000 families had to move out of their homes for months because they couldn’t drink or bathe in their water. The military spent more than $220 million housing residents in hotels and responding to the spill. Congress appropriated $2.1 billion more, some of which is helping the Navy close the Red Hill facility in compliance with an order from Hawaii regulators.

Among the inspector general’s other findings:

Hawaii’s congressional delegation, which called for the investigation in 2021, issued a joint statement saying the reports made clear the Navy and the military failed to manage fuel and water operations at Red Hill and Pearl Harbor to a standard that protects the health and safety of the people of Hawaii.

“It’s outrageous and unacceptable,” said the statement from U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda, all Democrats.

They called on the Navy to take “full responsibility” for its failures and immediately implement the inspector general’s recommendations.

A Navy spokesperson said in a statement that the inspector general’s findings align with previous evaluations and support corrective actions the Navy is implementing.

“We are committed to constant improvement to ensure the highest standards of operation, maintenance, safety, and oversight at all of our facilities at all times,” the statement said.

Sega has shed more light on the naval combat and battling mechanics in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

The upcoming action-adventure title – as opposed to the recent spin-offs, which have been RPGs – stars the popular recurring character, Goro Majima, in a story that appears to follow directly from Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

According to Sega, players will have two different battle styles which they can switch between during combat.

Mad Dog style lets players “freely combine fists and kicks with knife strokes to perform a variety of lightning-quick blows and aerial combos to defeat enemies in style”. By building up a Madness Gauge they can summon a group of shadow doppelgangers to fight alongside them.

Sea Dog style, meanwhile, lets players “dual-wield cutlasses to combine exhilarating slash combos with pirate gear, building up to brutal finishing moves”.

The Sea Dog style also lets players use three sidearms – a Cutlass Boomerang, a Pistol and a Chain Hook – and acquire a variety of ‘Dark Instruments’, which summon cursed creatures like sharks, apes and jellyfish.

The game’s other main form of battle is naval combat, where players captain the Goro Maru ship. They have to attack enemy ships with cannons before boarding them and attempting to take down the rival captain and his crew.

Players have to modify their ship and arrange its crew to succeed in battles, with each crewmate adding new traits during battle – some add attacking options, others can heal.

Originally planned for release on February 28, 2025, Sega announced last month that Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will now be released a week earlier on February 21.