US military drops appeal of Hawaii order to drain fuel tanks

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US military drops appeal of Hawaii order to drain fuel tanks
By Audrey McAvoy, The Associated Press
Apr 23, 12:56 PM
Navy Rear Adm. John Korka, the head of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and chief of civil engineers, leads Navy and civilian water quality recovery experts through the tunnels of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 23, 2021. (MCS1 Luke McCall/Navy)

HONOLULU — The U.S. government on Friday dropped its appeals of a Hawaii order requiring it to remove fuel from a massive military fuel storage facility that leaked petroleum into the Navy’s water system at Pearl Harbor last year.

Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Defense notified the state and federal courts of its decision. The move comes more than a month after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the military would permanently shut down the tanks and drain all of their fuel.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SGT Charlie Lee PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth ] SSG William Jones Sgt (Join to see) 1SG Dan Capri CDR Andrew McMenamin, PhD SrA John Monette SFC Bernard Walko GySgt Jack Wallace SPC Michael Terrell SMSgt Anil Heendeniya CPL Patrick Rasmussen