Navy secretary in Hawaii to tour Red Hill facility amid water crisis

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro is on Oahu on Friday to tour the Red Hill fuel storage facility amid the water contamination crisis.

He was also scheduled to meet with members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation.

In an interview on Hawaii News Now Sunrise, U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele said he did not think there’s a chance the tanks remain in operation.

“My colleagues in Washington, D.C. are taking this very, very seriously,” he said. “We now have a federal piece of legislation that I worked on with other members of the delegation that has now been introduced in the Congress. We’re looking forward to hearing that bill.”

“There are multiple ways for us to address this problem and shut down this facility. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. "

CONTINUING COVERAGE:

• Hirono: $100M appropriation just the start of expected price tag for emptying Red Hill tanks
• Secretary of the Navy says he’s ‘committed to rebuilding trust’ amid tainted water probe
• EPA administrator visits Red Hill fuel tanks, pledges independent investigation

Del Toro’s visit comes after the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it will conduct an investigation of the fuel leak at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel storage facility.

It’s the latest in a long list of investigations at the city, state and federal levels.

This story will be updated.

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