Two years after Navy fuel tainted Oahu’s primary drinking water source, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply is sending a massive bill to the military.

BWS filed a $1.2 billion claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act last month calling on the Navy to cover costs the utility has incurred – and will incur – as a consequence of the water contamination disaster at the Red Hill fuel storage facility in 2021.

“The Navy has publicly stated that it is taking accountability for its leadership failings at Red Hill,” BWS Chief Engineer Ernie Lau said at a press conference. “And we expect the Navy to reimburse the Board of Water Supply for these damages.”

In the days after Pearl Harbor families drank and bathed in toxic water, BWS shuttered its Halawa shaft, which had provided water to 400,000 customers from urban Honolulu to Hawaii Kai, as well as other nearby wells. Lau said he doesn’t foresee pumping from that location again because contamination located near Red Hill could get sucked into the civilian system.

A military task force has already removed much of the fuel that was stored at Red Hill. But even after the complex is fully drained and closed, historical contamination under the facility could be a threat, according to BWS Board Chairman Na’alehu Anthony. The facility is known to have leaked since it was built in the early 1940s. Various fuel products, as well as toxic firefighting foam, may sit in unknown quantities in the aquifer below.

“That means there is a sustained threat of what has already been introduced into the environment,” Anthony said.

As a result, BWS is now going through the costly process of siting and building a new, comparable water source further from Red Hill. That project accounts for much of BWS’s monetary claim, Lau said.

The agency has also had to pay for water sampling, testing and the construction of new monitoring wells to assess the potential spread of the contamination. BWS is also evaluating water treatment options, Lau said. With all that comes increased staff and consultant costs, he said.

BWS’s claim was filed on Oct. 28, before the expiration of a two-year statute of limitations, but was announced on Tuesday. The Navy has six months to respond to it, and Lau said he hopes the Navy approves it. But the matter may very well end up in federal court. Lau said he is prepared for years of litigation if it becomes necessary, but “we don’t want to go down that road.”

In a statement, Navy spokesman Patricia Babb confirmed receipt of the claim and said the Navy is “conducting an initial evaluation of it.” Christopher Blachly, a spokesman for Navy Region Hawaii, said it would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing legal matters.

However, he said: “Navy Region Hawaii remains committed to protecting the environment and the community, and we want to focus on collaborating with key partners like BWS in this endeavor.”

BWS’s announcement follows news that the utility plans to increase water rates for its customers. Lau said Red Hill costs are a contributing factor in those price hikes, but they’re not the main reason.

Other factors are at play, including increased workforce costs, higher electricity prices and Covid-related changes in water usage. During the pandemic, there was decreased usage at commercial properties, which are billed at a higher rate, and more usage at residences, which are billed at a lower rate.

Whether or not the Navy approves BWS’s claim, the rate hikes are likely, according to Lau. Getting the Navy to pay up could take years.

“We have to actually proceed because we project increased costs of operations and need to invest in our infrastructure,” Lau said.

The proposal will go before the BWS board next week.

The relationship between the Navy and BWS has been strained for years. Lau was one of the earliest voices calling for the removal of fuel from Red Hill, but those calls were not taken seriously until residents drank fuel-tainted water and got sick. Only then, and following massive public outrage, did the secretary of defense call for the closure of the facility.

Navy officials, despite public claims of transparency, have made it difficult to understand their operations, including water test results, according to BWS. And at times, that appears to be intentional. In text messages submitted into the federal court record last week, Navy Capt. James “Gordie” Meyer expressed his intention to “inundate” BWS with information that was already in the public domain.

On Tuesday, Lau said he was “very disappointed” by that. Still today, Lau said he has trouble accessing the Navy’s hydrologic or geologic data, which, according to him, is too often redacted.

Once Joint Task Force – Red Hill completes its mission to remove the vast majority of the fuel at Red Hill, a Navy task force will take over to remove residual fuel and any remaining sludge. Lau said he has concerns about the military handing the reins back to the branch that caused the crisis in the first place.

“Hopefully they’ll be able to do a much better job all the way to closure and to remove the last drop of fuel or sludge from that facility. That’s when I’ll be able to rest easy,” Lau said. “I want to give them a chance, but I just want to let them know we’re all watching very carefully.”