THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	35
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

URGING THE UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND THE HAWAII STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO REJECT THE APPROVAL OF A SINGLE WALL TANK UPGRADE ALTERNATIVE OPTION FOR THE RED HILL BULK FUEL STORAGE FACILITY AND THE CONCLUSIONS PRESENTED IN THE GROUNDWATER PROTECTION AND EVALUATIONS CONSIDERATIONS REPORT FOR THE RED HILL BULK FUEL STORAGE FACILITY DATED JULY 27, 2018.

WHEREAS, samples collected from the steel liner from Tank 14 at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility ("Facility") examined on June 25, 2018, show the presence of rust on the backside of the liner; and

WHEREAS, half of the ten samples collected showed considerably more rust than the others, indicating the scanning method used to assess the condition of the steel liner underestimates the amount of rust present; and

WHEREAS, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported on September 26, 2018, that testing by the United States Navy ("U.S. Navy") suggests that tank rust at the Facility is more extensive than predicted, elevating concerns by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply ("BWS"), environmentalists, and this body about the aging facility’s potential for leaks and the risk it poses to Oahu's drinking water supply; and

WHEREAS, while the U.S. Navy is evaluating six tank upgrade alternative options under the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility Administrative Order on Consent, the U.S. Navy also proposed in its August 15, 2018, Red Hill stakeholder letter that its tank upgrade alternative option moving forward is to continue with sustainment/maintenance of the existing tanks in accordance with current procedures as the Navy's initial best available practicable technology decision submittal, which means to continue the current status quo process to operate and maintain the existing single wall tanks with quarter inch steel plates dating back to the 1940s; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Navy's Groundwater Protection and Evaluation Considerations for the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility Report, dated July 27, 2018 ("Groundwater Protection and Evaluation Report"), will be used for input into the tank upgrade alternative decision process; and

WHEREAS, the Groundwater Protection and Evaluation Report concludes that an undetected chronic release of two thousand three hundred gallons per year per tank would be biodegraded in the environment prior to reaching groundwater, a sudden release of approximately one hundred twenty thousand gallons of petroleum would likely be retained in the underground rocks or at the water table without causing petroleum levels in the water at the U.S. Navy Red Hill Shaft water supply to exceed four hundred micrograms per liter, and a release as large as seven hundred thousand gallons would not cause an exceedance of four hundred micrograms per liter in the water at the U.S. Navy's Red Hill Shaft, since the U.S. Navy's Red Hill Shaft captures all groundwater flow from beneath the tanks underlying Red Hill and no groundwater flows from Red Hill to any of the BWS wells; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the House of Representatives concurring, that this body does not support the findings of the Groundwater Protection and Evaluation Report as being protective of the environment or Oahu's drinking water supply, or as being in the best interest of the people of the City and County of Honolulu; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body strongly urges the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii State Department of Health to reject approval of a single wall tank upgrade alternative option and the Groundwater Protection and Evaluation Report's conclusions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's congressional delegation, the Governor, Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Director of Health, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Chair of the Commission on Water Resource Management, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Secretary of the United States Navy, Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, Commander of the United States Pacific Fleet, Executive Director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, and Chief Engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Environmental Protection Agency; Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility