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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 8 March 2022
Pentagon to shut down leaking fuel tank facility in Hawaii

By LOLITA C. BALDOR action for any prior releases
Associated Press from the facility.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The The tanks can hold 250
Defense Department will million gallons of fuel, and
permanently shut down the they are at less than half
Navy's massive fuel tank fa- capacity right now.
cility in Hawaii that leaked The giant U.S. government
petroleum into Pearl Har- fuel storage installation,
bor's tap water, and will which has provided fuel to
remove all the fuel, The As- military ships and planes
sociated Press has learned. crisscrossing the Pacific
A senior defense official Ocean since World War II,
said the decision, which was a secret for years. The
Defense Secretary Lloyd 20 fuel tanks were built into
Austin made Monday, is the mountain ridge to pro-
based on a new Penta- tect them from aerial at-
gon assessment, but also tacks. Each tank is about
is in line with an order from the height of a 25-story
Hawaii's Department of building and can hold 12.5
Health to drain fuel from million gallons (47.3 million
the tanks at the Red Hill liters.)
Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. The tanks are connected to
The tanks, built into the side underground pipelines that
of a mountain during World In this Dec. 23, 2021, photo provided by the U.S. Navy, Rear Adm. John Korka, Commander, Naval send fuel about 2.5 miles (4
Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC), and Chief of Civil Engineers, leads Navy and
War II to protect them from civilian water quality recovery experts through the tunnels of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, kilometers) to Pearl Harbor
enemy attack, had leaked near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. and to ships and planes
into a drinking water well Associated Press used by the Air Force, Army,
and contaminated water Coast Guard, Marines and
at Pearl Harbor homes and population and the envi- spoke on condition of ano- operate, will now shift and Navy.
offices. ronment, and will also lay nymity to discuss a decision determine how to shut the The Navy hasn't deter-
Nearly 6,000 people, mostly the groundwork for a more not yet made public. tanks down and remove mined how petroleum got
those living in military hous- secure military fueling sys- The new plan, laid out in the fuel in an environmen- in the water. Officials are in-
ing at or near Joint Base tem. recommendations deliv- tally safe way. The team vestigating a theory that jet
Pearl Harbor-Hickam were The military, which has re- ered to Austin by a study must report back to Austin fuel spilled from a ruptured
sickened, seeking treat- lied in part on fuel from group, would increase the by the end of April with rec- pipe last May and some-
ment for nausea, head- the Hawaii tanks, will now fuel contracts that the U.S. ommendations. how entered a fire suppres-
aches, rashes and other move to a more dispersed has with other territories The official said that once sion system drain pipe. They
ailments. And 4,000 military fueling system for military and nations in the Indo-Pa- steps are taken to ensure suspect fuel then leaked
families were forced out of ships and aircraft in the cific, and add several more the tanks can be safely from the second pipe on
their homes and are in ho- Indo-Pacific. Based on fueling ships that are based emptied, the defueling Nov. 20, sending it into the
tels. the new assessment, the at sea. There are current- will begin. It is expected to drinking water well.
The defense official said expanded system will be ly about a dozen fueling take about a year, so the Once the leak was discov-
Austin was speaking with more cost effective and ships, and several more entire process could be fin- ered, Hawaii state officials
Hawaii government lead- provide greater security by would have to be built. ished some time next year. and members of Congress
ers on Monday to inform spreading the fuel supply An assessment team that Austin has asked the Navy immediately began to de-
them of the decision, which more broadly across the re- had been studying how secretary to plan a budget mand the facility be shut
he believes will protect the gion, said the official, who to make the tanks safe to for all necessary corrective down.q

Boat carrying Haitian migrants grounds off the Florida Keys

KEY LARGO, Fla. (AP) — A Border Protection Chief towels on the shore.
wooden boat carrying hun- Agent Walter N. Slosar on Border Patrol officials said
dreds of Haitian migrants Sunday night. human smuggling is sus-
in a suspected human The U.S. Coast Guard and pected and an investiga-
smuggling operation ran other agencies rushed to tion is continuing.
aground in shallow water in help the group of migrants, In the past week, the Coast
the Florida Keys, where 163 which included women Guard has stopped two
people swam ashore and and children. other Haitian boats navi-
many needed medical "Multiple agencies re- gating near the Bahamas
attention, federal authori- sponded quickly & worked with dozens of migrants.
ties said.The boat teeming closely to protect a lot of On Feb. 28, crews spotted
with people listed sharply lives today," U.S. Coast a Haitian sailboat with 179
to its side near Ocean Reef Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jason people aboard 30 miles (50
Club in Key Largo, not far Neiman tweeted Sunday kilometers) off Andros Is-
from where another boat night. land, Bahamas. Last Friday,
carrying 176 Haitians was It was not immediately the Coast Guard stopped
stopped in January. know how many people another Haitian sail vessel
This photo provided by the United States Border Patrol shows a Many of the migrants were were taken to hospitals. with 123 people, including
boat that ran aground in the Florida Keys off Key Largo on Sun-
day, March 6, 2022. in need of medical atten- Coast Guard images at 39 minors about 10 miles
Associated Press tion, according to a tweet the scene showed a large (16 kilometers) from Anguil-
sent by U.S. Customs and group of Haitians draped in la Cay, Bahamas.q