Navy reports no detected groundwater migration from Red Hill but expands monitoring, plans well reactivations

HONOLULU — The Navy Closure Task Force gave the Commission on Water Resource Management a detailed update May 20 on groundwater monitoring, well recovery and site assessment work at the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility, saying the Navy’s monitoring to date has not shown contaminant migration beyond the facility. The presentation described expanded well drilling, more frequent sampling and plans to pilot treatment systems before any reactivation of the two offline production shafts.

The Navy’s director of engagement for the Red Hill task force, Megan Ostrom, and Commander Ben Dunn, the task force deputy for environment and remediation, told commissioners the Navy has installed dozens of monitoring wells and continues to plan off‑site “sentinel” wells to better cover the area between the tanks and nearby drinking‑water sources. “The data we’ve collected over the last three years, which is an extensive amount of groundwater monitoring data, does not show any contaminant migration off of Red Hill,” Commander Dunn said.

Why it matters: the Navy’s joint base drinking‑water system for Pearl Harbor‑Hickam relies on three production shafts. Two — the Red Hill Shaft and the Navy IEA Halawa Shaft — have been offline since the November 2021 contamination event. The Navy says it intends to recover both with interim and eventual permanent treatment systems, but stressed reactivation requires Department of Health approval after pilot testing and other prerequisites.

What the Navy presented and the context - Monitoring network: the Navy said it now has about 46 monitoring wells in and around the Red Hill property — roughly two‑thirds on‑site and about a third off‑site — and is targeting additional off‑site sentinel locations in the west and northwest corridor near H‑3 where fewer wells exist. Wells are sampled on a rotating schedule; higher‑priority wells are sampled more frequently. - Sampling and lab turnaround: the Navy samples many wells twice a month; most laboratory analyses are shipped to EPA‑certified mainland labs and take roughly one to two weeks for results and data validation. - Monitoring results: Dunn noted the extensive dataset does not show a trend of chemicals migrating off site or even across Red Hill, but he cautioned that groundwater moves slowly and that more wells are needed to increase confidence. The Navy’s groundwater flow model estimates groundwater velocities on the order of a quarter‑mile to a third‑mile per year in the study area. - Drinking‑water sources: the Navy described its three production shafts (Wai‘awa, Red Hill and Navy IEA Halawa), noting Wai‘awa is the largest capacity well and the other two are smaller. Navy IEA Halawa has low PFAS detections historically; the Navy installed a temporary granular activated carbon (GAC) system and completed a pilot run, with final results and a tech memo to be provided to DOH. Red Hill Shaft has been operated since January 2022 to establish a capture zone and the Navy is pursuing both interim and permanent treatment options; a permanent facility was identified in the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act with an estimated cost near $500 million. - Treatment systems and monitoring: the interim GAC treatment approach at Navy IEA Halawa uses multiple trains and vessels (lead/lag GAC tanks and an ion‑exchange vessel) designed to remove PFAS and other constituents. The Navy also described plans for inline hydrocarbon analyzers at treatment inlets for real‑time monitoring at Red Hill treatment facilities.

Questions and regulatory coordination Commissioners and attendees pressed the Navy on timing, monitoring design and public notification. Dunn said the Navy submitted a reactivation plan and received conditional approval letters from the Hawaii Department of Health for the interim treatment at Navy IEA Halawa and that a reactivation request to DOH would follow the pilot data; he estimated a possible reactivation target for Navy IEA Halawa in late June to August 2025 if DOH conditions are met and approvals are timely. He emphasized that the Navy will not reconnect any source without DOH authorization.

On timing and monitoring, Navy staff said: - The Navy samples many wells on a rotation so that over a two‑week period all monitored wells are sampled; some priority wells get sampled more often. - Typical lab turnaround for samples shipped to mainland EPA‑certified labs is about 1–2 weeks. - In 2022 the Navy pumped Red Hill Shaft to create an on‑site capture zone and at one point extracted about 4,000,000 gallons per day; based on subsequent analysis it reduced that rate to about 1,800,000 gallons per day to sustain the capture zone while lowering extraction volumes.

Site assessment and remediation planning Navy staff described how fuel‑related cleanup is regulated under RCRA and said the site assessment and field investigation work — the stage that determines the extent and character of contamination and feasible remedies — will start once the Navy and regulators agree on a final work plan. The Navy reported it had submitted a revised field investigation work plan and, pending formal approval, planned to begin summer field activities for the fuel‑related site assessment. A separate PFAS remedial investigation (regulated under CERCLA) is being managed by NAVFAC with coordination among EPA, DOH and the Navy.

Public information and data access The Navy highlighted an online portal and dashboards (the SafeWaters site) where drinking‑water and groundwater sampling results, PFAS analyses and data packages are posted and updated monthly. Dunn encouraged the public to use the dashboards and attend webinars and open houses the task force holds.

Discussion points, outstanding items and next steps - The Navy is pursuing additional sentinel wells in off‑site locations; landowner access and permitting are the primary constraints and Navy staff said they expect to drill many of the targeted off‑site wells within about 18 months if access agreements proceed. - Navy IEA Halawa reactivation hinges on pilot results from the temporary GAC system, completion of DOH‑required sanitary and operational items and DOH approval; the Navy described being roughly one to two months from filing a formal reactivation request depending on DOH response time. - Red Hill Shaft reactivation is farther out; the Navy is pursuing a longer term permanent treatment facility (NEPA and design work underway), a pilot for permanent remediation systems this summer, and an interim treatment and tie‑in that will require DOH sign‑off. - The Navy described ongoing coordination with Board of Water Supply well drilling plans and with the University of Hawaii groundwater model work; staff said they will integrate new field data into updated groundwater flow models.

Speakers (attributed) - Megan Ostrom, Director of Engagement, Navy Closure Task Force, Red Hill (Navy Closure Task Force) - Commander Ben Dunn, Deputy for Environment and Remediation, Navy Closure Task Force, Red Hill (Navy Closure Task Force) - Ryan Niimata, Program Manager, Groundwater Regulation Branch (Commission on Water Resource Management, DLNR) - Kira Kahahane, Deputy Director, Commission on Water Resource Management (DLNR) - Dawn Chang, Chairperson, Commission on Water Resource Management (DLNR)

Authorities cited in discussion - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) — governing fuel‑related hazardous waste cleanup approaches - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) — invoked for PFAS remedial investigation activities - 2015 Administrative Order of Consent (referenced historically as driving monitoring after the 2014 release) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methods and certified laboratories (for analytical work) - Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) drinking‑water oversight

Clarifying details extracted from the presentation - Monitoring wells: ~46 total wells in and around Red Hill; roughly two‑thirds on the property and ~13–14 off‑site sentinel wells. - Sampling cadence: priority wells sampled twice per month; most wells sampled on a rotating two‑week cycle; lab turnaround ~1–2 weeks for EPA‑certified labs. - Groundwater flow estimate (Navy modeling): roughly 0.25–0.33 miles/year; travel time from upper Koolau slopes to ocean on the order of decades (Navy cited ~25–30 years as a broad estimate for some flow paths). - Capture pumping: historic pumping to maintain capture zone peaked (~4,000,000 gallons per day) and was later reduced to ~1,800,000 gallons per day to sustain capture with fewer volumes. - Treatment: temporary granular activated carbon (GAC) trains (lead/lag) plus a subsequent ion‑exchange vessel; pilot studies completed for the Halawa GAC system with final technical memo pending to DOH. - Permanent Red Hill treatment facility: identified in FY25 NDAA with an estimated project cost on the order of $500 million (project still in environmental review and design).

Provenance (transcript evidence) - topicintro: {"block_id":"t-756.00995","local_start":0,"local_end":176,"evidence_excerpt":"Aloha and, for having us today, chair and commissioners. I'm Megan Ostrom, the director of engagement with Navy Closure Task Force for Red Hill..."} - topfinish: {"block_id":"t-7166.215","local_start":0,"local_end":120,"evidence_excerpt":"...all the things that we have going on at Red Hill. We start the site assessment..."}

Community relevance - Geographies: Oahu; Red Hill; Halawa; Pearl Harbor; Joint Base Pearl Harbor‑Hickam - Impact groups: military installations and their dependents served by the joint base drinking‑water system, nearby communities relying on Board of Water Supply sources, downstream near‑shore ecosystems

Meeting context - Engagement level: presentation and extended Q&A; estimated Red Hill briefing duration ~52 minutes within the meeting; multiple commissioners and agency staff participated - Implementation risk: medium—reactivation contingent on regulatory approvals and pilot results; permanent treatment investment large and multi‑year - History: follow‑up from 2021 fuel release and the 2015 Administrative Order of Consent; the Navy has been progressively expanding monitoring since 2014–2015

Searchable tags:["Red Hill","groundwater","PFAS","granular activated carbon","Navy Closure Task Force","Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam","drinking water","monitoring wells"]

Salience and editorial judgement - overall:0.92 - overall_justification: The update affects critical drinking‑water infrastructure and long‑term groundwater and remediation plans on Oahu near military installations; it has technical complexity, ongoing regulatory decisions and visible public interest. - impact_scope:local - attention_level:high - novelty:0.40 - timeliness_urgency:0.80 - legal_significance:0.60 - budgetary_significance:0.75 - public_safety_risk:0.60

Predicted audience & engagement - notify_recommendation: {"audience":"local","reason":"Local residents, utilities and environmental stakeholders are directly affected by Red Hill remediation and drinking water source status.","justification":"High local civic salience; regulatory actions and pilot study outcomes will have immediate downstream impact."}