What is the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility?
The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility supports military operations in the Pacific. This facility can store up to 250 million gallons of fuel.
At the facility are 20 steel-lined tanks, encased in concrete, and built into cavities that were mined inside of Red Hill. Each tank has a storage capacity of approximately 12.5 million gallons. The tanks are connected to three pipelines that run 2.5 miles through a tunnel to fueling piers at Pearl Harbor.
Each of the 20 tanks at Red Hill measures 100 feet in diameter and is 250 feet in height. The cavity in which the tanks are built lies under approximately 100 feet of rock. Near Pearl Harbor, a pumping station at the end of the pipelines controls the filling of the tanks as well as dispensing fuel to ships and to nearby Hickam Air Field.
On March 7, 2022 in the aftermath of the Joint Base Pearl Harbor Drinking Water Emergency, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III decided to defuel and permanently close the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. For information about Secretary Austin’s decision, view the Statement by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on the Closure of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
More Information
- EPA: Defueling and Closing the Red Hill Facility
- Hawai'i Department of Health: U.S. Navy Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility
- U.S. Navy: About Red Hill