Judge Keeps Navy Lawsuit Over Red Hill Fuel Spill Alive, Extends Stay

U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi ruled that the Navy cannot invoke a 2015 administrative order to dismiss a citizen suit concerning the 2021 jet-fuel releases at the Red Hill storage complex. She found the order does not expressly cover future releases and criticized the Navy for only asserting coverage in 2023, two years after the claim was first made. Maintaining a 2024 decision to pause rather than dismiss the case brought by the Wai Ola Alliance, the judge noted the alliance's allegation that the spill endangers Oahu's sole-source drinking-water aquifer under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

The stay was extended to Aug. 31 2027, with the Navy required to provide quarterly status reports and continue defueling work, now about 94% complete. Although regulators are not expected to finalize a permanent groundwater remediation plan until at least 2033, the judge warned that excessive delays could impair the plaintiffs' ability to litigate. Both the Navy and Wai Ola Alliance declined to comment.