Schatz Secures Additional $150 Million In New Federal Funding To Defuel, Permanently Close Red Hill, Clean Up Water

New Funding Follows $100 Million Schatz Secured Last Month To Defuel Red Hill

News Release from Office of Sen Brian Schatz, March 9, 2022

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured an additional $150 million in new federal funding to cover the cost to defuel, permanently close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, and clean up contaminated water in the affected areas. Schatz worked closely with top leaders in the Biden Administration and the Senate Appropriations Committee to include his funding provision in the new appropriations bill.

“This is new federal money to defuel and permanently shut down Red Hill,” said Senator Schatz. “We still have more work to do to make sure Red Hill is closed safely, but we now have significant resources to drain the tanks and get this right.”

The new funding follows the $100 million Schatz secured last month for defueling Red Hill and an announcement yesterday that the Department of Defense will permanently close down the facility, after calls from Schatz to do so.

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Hirono Applauds $686 million in Funding to Address the Red Hill Water Contamination Crisis, Close the Facility

News Release from Office of Sen Mazie Hirono, March 9, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono applauded the $686,429,000 in funding for the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility water contamination crisis included in the fiscal year 2022 omnibus spending bill, which was unveiled this morning. In February, Senator Hirono helped secure $100 million in the must-pass continuing resolution spending bill to defuel the facility. Today’s announced appropriations bill includes additional funding specifically dedicated to defueling the facility.  This funding comes only days after the Department of Defense committed to permanently closing down Red Hill, a decision Senator Hirono strongly supported.

“Last month we were able to ensure funding was available to cover the costs incurred to get families back into their homes, restore clean drinking water to impacted communities and defuel the facility. But I said from day one that significantly more funding will be required. I’ve worked hard with my colleagues on the appropriations committee and leadership in the Senate, as well as, the White House, the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Defense to ensure DoD has the resources to safely defuel and permanently close the facility in this year’s spending bill,” said Senator Hirono.

“This $686 million is an important step, but there is still a lot of work left to be done to safely defuel, permanently close the facility, and remediate any environmental contamination concerns.  This will require direction and oversight by Congress in the out years to provide funding to ensure it is completed.”

The FY22 Omnibus includes:

$510.4 million to support displaced families and conduct remediation and recovery efforts, such as persistent water monitoring and treatment, specifically funding:

$58 million for persistent water monitoring
$19 million for granular activated carbon water filtration equipment
$9 million for hydrogeology and corrosion studies

An additional $100 million for the Secretary of Defense to conduct activities in compliance with the State of Hawaii Department of Health Order 21-UST-EA-02, signed December 6, 2021, related to the removal of fuel from and improvement of infrastructure at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, subject to the same authorities and conditions as funds appropriated in P.L. 117-86

$71 million for environmental and restoration efforts outside of the Red Hill well shaft, such as aquifer remediation

$5 million to re-execute the operational risk assessment as ordered by the Administrative Order of Consent to identify engineering defects across Red Hill.

Increases from $53 million to $85.25 million funds for emergencies and extraordinary expenses, which provides immediate financial assistance to impacted residents of housing areas reliant on the Red Hill water supply for which no other form of federal funding is authorized.

Directs the Secretary of Defense to provide the congressional defense committees no later than 90 days after enactment a report detailing all options under consideration by the Department of Defense both to mitigate issues with fuel storage at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, as well as future plans for the site and Department of Defense fuel storage requirements

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CB: Hawaii Senators Secure Millions For Red Hill Defueling, Mitigation