US military drains giant wartime fuel tanks which had poisoned water supply

Soldiers and experts check the situation in the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, near Pearl Harbour (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Luke McCall/U.S. Navy via AP, File)

The US military said it has finished draining million of gallons of fuel from an underground fuel tank complex in Hawaii that poisoned 6,000 people when it leaked jet fuel into Pearl Harbour’s drinking water in 2021.

Joint Task Force Red Hill began defueling the tanks in October after completing months of repairs to an aging network of pipes to prevent the Second World War era facility from springing more leaks while it drained 393.6 million litres of fuel from the tanks.