With water line issues nearly fixed, officials set new date for kicking off Red Hill defueling

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Red Hill joint task force says it expects to begin removing 1 million gallons of fuel from the facility’s pipelines on Tuesday now that the Navy’s major water main breaks are fixed.

Capt. Mark Sohaney, commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, says the major breaks were fixed.

He expected the boil water advisory for more than 90,000 customers to be lifted by late Friday or Saturday.

On Thursday, crews were seen fixing a break along Meyerkord Loop in Catlin Park. Workers told Hawaii News Now rupture is not on a main line, but instead on a lateral line which impacts fewer homes.

Meanwhile, Gov. David Ige and the state’s top environmental, health and water leaders are asking Hawaii residents to “Imagine a Day Without Water” as part of a national campaign.

“I don’t control the the Navy’s water system, but I would hope that the more recent experience has alerted the Navy, people in charge of the Navy, and the Department of Defense, the importance of the infrastructure that provides safe drinking water to their people,” said Ernie Lau, chief engineer and manager of the Board of Water Supply.

“I’m just so sad to see what’s happening at Pearl Harbor,” he added.

“Recently, I was asked what keeps me up at night and my response was a healthy aquifer. We have to maintain a healthy aquifer for our future generations,” said Kathleen Ho, deputy director of the state Department of Health.

State Land Chair Suzanne Case also reminded people to remember the impacts of climate change leading to drought, threats from fires and impacts to the forests which all effect our precious water.

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