United States Environmental Protection Agency Status Update: Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility Implementation of the Administrative Order on Consent Agreement (AOC) between the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency, the Hawaii Department of Health, and the U.S. EPA for Environmental Investigation, Cleanup and Environmental Performance Issue #4 - August 2018 HIGHLIGHTS Tank Upgrade Selection Process Progresses Regulators Tentatively Plan to Hold Tank Upgrade Public Meeting and Workshop in Winter 2018-2019 Drinking Water Continues to Meet Federal and State Standards Navy Completes Onsite Tests to Evaluate Release Detection Methods Navy Implements Extensive Process to Validate Current Scanning Technologies Navy Continues to Study Environmental Conditions Around Facility Navy Completing Revised Alternative Sites Study Hawaii Department of Health Revises Underground Storage Tank Rules Process for Selecting Red Hill Tank Upgrades Progresses On May 21, 2018, the Hawaii Department of Health and U.S. EPA approved the Navy's Tank Upgrade Alternatives Report. The report evaluated dozens of technologies that may be applied to the tanks and eventually analyzed six tank upgrade options in depth. Three of the six options utilize a single-walled tank system and three utilize double-walled systems. The Navy's tank upgrade study does not recommend a specific upgrade option. Instead, it provides conceptual design information regarding six tank upgrade alternatives. This information will be used in conjunction with work from other portions of the Red Hill Administrative Order on Consent and input from the community to ultimately inform the Navy, Hawaii Department of Health and U.S. EPA's determination of how to best upgrade the existing Red Hill tanks. Any proposed tank upgrades would proceed while the overall facility remains in operation. The graphic below shows how public input will be sequenced and incorporated into a tank upgrade decision. A public information workshop was held on March 14, 2018 to explain the content of the studies and hear the community's concerns. Currently, technical meetings are underway to discuss the tank upgrade options, and the Pfarvy*will present their proposal to upgrade the tanks after the technical meetings have concluded. Hawaii Department of Health and U.S. EPA will hold a public information workshop and meeting to receive input from the community about the Navy's proposed upgrade decision before deciding to approve or disapprove the Navy's proposal. Public Involvement Public Information Workshop (Completed} Navy Proposes Upgrade Public Meeting on Navy Proposal DOH & EPA Approve or Disapprove Navy Proposal Figure 1 - Public involvement is a key component in the process to upgrade the tanks at the facility. ------- A decision on how to best upgrade the tanks at Red Hill will be revisited once every five years. For this first tank upgrade decision, six tank upgrade options are being closely evaluated. Tank Upgrade Options' a. Maintaining existing tank material b. Add a full internal coating c. Replace interior lining with new steel d. Double-wall tank with carbon steel e. Double-wall tank with stainless steel t. New tank constructed inside existing tank Evaluated for Environmental performance Operational performance Construction feasibility Capital and lifecycle cost Community factors More information on the tank upgrade decision process is available on the Tank Upgrade Alternatives page of EPAs Red Hill website, at www.epa.gov/red-hill. Regulators to Hold Public Meeting and Workshop on Tank Upgrades in Winter 2018-2019 The Hawaii Department of Health and U.S. EPA will host a public meeting and workshop m late 2018 or early 2019 in Honolulu to receive public comments on the Navy's proposal to upgrade the tanks at Red Hill. Immediately before the public meeting, Hawaii Department of Health, U.S. EPA and the Navy will hold an information work- shop to answer questions from the community in a one-on-one setting. A public notice will be distributed at least 14 days prior to the meeting, announcing the date and location of the public meeting and workshop. The Navy must revisit their proposal to upgrade the tanks at Red Hill once every five years. Drinking Water Continues to Meet Federal and State Standards The Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam System continues to be in compliance with federal and state drinking water standards, and the public water supply is safe. Depending on your location, drinking water in the Red Hill region is either supplied by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, or Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Water System. Full drinking water reports are available on your local water purveyor's website. Halawa Shaft ~1.1 miles Location of Red Hill Tanks Moanalua Well ~1.6 miles Navy Supply Well ~0.6 miles Figure 2 - Red Hill tanks and associated drinking water supply well locations 2 ------- The Red Hill Fuel Tanks The Navy's Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, located near Pearl Harbor, provides fuel for military opera- tions in the Pacific. First constructed in the 1940s, the unique facility includes 20 large underground storage tanks with a facility-wide capacity of approximately 250 million gallons of fuel. A fuel release of roughly 27,000 gallons in January 2014 led to a comprehensive plan to minimize the threat of future leaks and protect groundwater resources around the facility. Navy Completes Onsite Tests to Evaluate Release Detection Methods On July 26, 2018 the Navy submitted a New Release Detection Alternatives Report to the Hawaii Department of Health and UrS,. EPA for review and approval. The report details two months of advanced onsite tests that the Navy and its contractors conducted at Red Hill earlier this year to determine whether the Navy can improve its ability to detect small leaks trom the tanks. The report also details the Navy's release response procedures if a leak were to occur. The report can be found online at www.epa.gov/red-hill/release-detection-red-hill. Navy Implements Extensive Process to Validate Current Scanning Technologies From June 18 to 23 the Navy removed small portions of steel liner in one of the tanks at Red Hill to test the accura- cy and precision of its current scanning methods to detect flaws inside the tank. The tank's steel and concrete were also visually inspected and laboratory tested to understand current physical and chemical properties and to gain a better understanding of any corrosion factors that may be at work. Prior to the removal work, Hawaii Department of Health and U.S. EPA reviewed the Navy's testing plans with the assistance of a local corrosion expert and a petroleum industry expert. The Navy's observations and the labora- tory findings will be submitted to the Hawaii Department of Health and U.S. EPA in a final report for review and approval in September 2018. 9 ' CP ¦'-*" "ft4* *«•»*> -* ,.r J ¦ 11 y ^ , j hW vHm Figure 3 - Images from the tank inspection process Navy Continues to Study Environmental As the Navy proceeds to install additional groundwater monitoring wells, it has also initiated several other methods of environmen- tal investigation to help understand the rela- tionship between groundwater and the geology near the facility. These methods include using surface penetrating tools to investigate shallow subsurface features, completion of a high- resolution monitoring well survey with the United States Geological Survey, and ground- water modeling to determine possible flow paths of groundwater through the subsurface. These new investigations will yield information to help develop an overall understanding of the subsurface and the ways in which ground- water behaves under various conditions. Conditions Around Facility Figure 4 - Mapping features in the Red Hill subsurface Bottom Layer 1 Bottom lay" I Bottom layer i Bottom layer 4 Bottom layer S 3 ------- Navy Completing Revised Alternative Sites Study Figure 5-A potential alternative site for the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility As part of the work under the Red Hill Administrative Order on Consent, the Navy and Defense Logistics Agency studied the viability of relocating the fuel currently stored at the facility to alternative sites. The Navy and Defense Logistics Agency submitted a study to the Hawaii Department of Health and. U.S. KP \ on March 6, 2018. The Navy plans to revise the alternative sites study to: incorporate lifecycle cost assessments of relocating the fuel and to include other features that may affect facility cost and design. This revised report is expected to be completed by August 31, 2018. Hawaii Department of Health Updated Underground Storage Tank Rules In response to the October 2015 update of the federal underground storage tank regulations, the Hawaii Department of Health updated its underground storage tank regulations. The updated rules went into effect on July 15, 2018. Some; of the requirements from these updated regulations will apply to the Red Hill Facility. The Hawaii Department of Health's underground storage tank regulations can be found at health.hawaii.gov/shvvh 7 files 72018/04/11-280. l-HAR-proposed-Apri1-23.pdf. Information Available on EPA's Website for Review and Comment Navy reports and additional information developed under the Red Hill AOC are available on L'.S. l .I'Vs and Hawaii Department of Health's websites (see next page). Interested members of the public are encouraged to review these documents and provide any comments or feedback to the contacts listed on the next page or via email to redhill@epa.gov. ------- For Further Information: EPA Red Hill Website: Thu Perry www.epa.^ov/red-hill Hawaii Department of Health Public Information Officer HDOH Red Hill Website (808) 586-4226 health.hawaii.gw/shwb / ust- thu.perrvfffidoh.hawaii.g'ov red-hill-project-main Dean Higuchi Roxanne Kwan U.S. EPA Region 9 Hawaii Department of Health Public Affairs Specialist Red Hill Project Coordinator (808) 541-2711 (808) 586-4226 hifmchi.deanfffiepa.g'ov roxanne.kwanif/doh.hawaii.^ov Omer Shalev U.S. EPA Region 9 Red Hill Project Coordinator (415) 972-3538 shalev.omerfffiepa.gw 5 ------- |