The United States Defense Department announced that it would permanently shut down the Navy's massive Red Hill fuel tank facility located in Hawaii after a leak that released petroleum into Pearl Harbor's tap water.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby was the one who made the announcement and said that authorities will work on removing all of the fuel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the decision on Monday, which a senior defense official said was based on a new Pentagon assessment.

Fuel Leak

They added that it was also in line with an order from Hawaii's Department of Health that said the fuel must be drained from the tanks at the facility. The containers were built into the side of a mountain during the World War II era to protect them from enemy attacks. The tanks had leaked fuel into a drinking water well and contaminated water at Pearl Harbor homes and offices.

There were roughly 6,000 people, the majority of whom were living in military housing at or near Joint Base Pearl-Harbor-Hickam, who became sick because of the contamination. They were seeking treatment for nausea, headaches, rashes, and other ailments, as per Star Adviser.

Reports of symptoms began in November and caused more than 4,000 families to be relocated from their homes, the Pentagon said. The Navy added that tests revealed petroleum hydrocarbons and vapors in the water after the leak. In December, the Hawaii Department of Health recommended stopping the use of water for drinking, cooking, or oral hygiene, including for pets.

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Kirby said that after the leak the military was working on decontaminating the water and mitigating the impacts of the leak. The spokesman added that the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet ordered a "command investigation" into the incident. He noted that once the review was finished, they would release the report to the public.

According to CNN, Austin said that the closure of the facility was the right thing to do because authorities wanted to meet their commitment of being good stewards to resources such as land and water. He added that the Defense Department had an "environmental mitigation plan" to address any future contamination concerns.

Contaminated Water

One resident, Lauren Wright, remembered the time her skin peeled off and her feelings of nausea and vomiting. She said her symptoms only disappeared when she stopped drinking, showering, and washing dishes using her home's water.

Wright, her sailor husband, and their three children, aged seven to 17, have been among the thousands of military families living in Honolulu hotels paid for by the Navy to gain access to clean water since early December.

She said that she was grateful because the attempt to clean up the leak was a "step in the right direction." Wright said that the decision should have been made a long time ago and hoped that authorities did not lag in their attempts to clean up the mess.

Wright noted that her home still had a sheen and smell and hoped that she and her family could find a new home. She noted that they have been looking at home filtration systems that they can use even after the leak has been removed, the Associated Press reported.

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