The Honolulu Board of Water Supply told the City Council's infrastructure committee on Nov. 19 that contamination from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility remains a long-term public health and environmental challenge.

Board manager Ernie Lau and engineer Joyce Lin outlined the site's history and recent monitoring results, saying the November 2021 spill contaminated the Red Hill Shaft and prompted shutdowns of that source and nearby Halawa/Aiea wells. Joyce Lin said approximately 93,000 residents on Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam were affected by the 2021 release and that later incidents — including a 2022 AFFF (fire suppression foam) release — added PFAS contamination concerns.

Lin described the facility as 20 underground tanks built during World War II with a combined capacity cited by the board as about 250,000,000 gallons. She said monitoring wells have been expanded beyond Navy sampling locations to better track possible plume movement toward city sources and that both shallow and deep groundwater monitoring wells in "Area B" show PFAS detections above project screening levels. Lin said Area A (the site of a reported 1,300‑gallon AFFF concentrate release in 2022) has fewer monitoring wells but has shown PFAS detections in shallow testing.

To manage immediate risk, the Board has shut down affected shafts and installed temporary treatment at some sources. Lin said the board is building temporary granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment at impacted wells while designing permanent treatment systems; she identified plans for permanent systems at several sites, and said the federal continuing resolution has allotted roughly $141,000,000 for Red Hill remediation, specifically to help fund treatment systems.

Lau and Lin emphasized the uncertainty remaining about the volume and composition of historic releases from a facility that operated for decades. They said full remediation will likely take years to decades, require more subsurface investigation and improved groundwater modeling, and may involve natural attenuation for some contaminants while targeting treatment where necessary.

Council members pressed the board for clarifications: Lau estimated the current affected service area population at "maybe 50,000 to 60,000" people for some wells, and explained that the Navy operates a separate water system but has sought Department of Health approval to reactivate certain shafts with treatment. Board staff said monitoring and treatment approvals remain contingent on regulator review and that the board is coordinating with Navy, EPA and DOH on sampling, modeling and monitoring-well installations.

The board provided links to public resources and ongoing task-force materials and said it will keep the council informed as monitoring data and treatment plans evolve.