US military finishes draining Pearl Harbor fuel pipelines

By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. military says it’s finished draining three pipelines connecting Pearl Harbor to a fuel storage facility that last year spilled jet fuel into the military installation’s tap water and sickened 6,000 people. About 1 million gallons of fuel had been sitting in the pipelines since the military stopped using the Red Fuel Bulk Fuel Storage Facility after the November spill. The pipeline draining ended Thursday after starting a little over a week earlier. The Navy said it will next repair equipment at the Red Hill tank farm to allow it to safely remove fuel from storage tanks in preparation for closing the facility.