January will mark five years since 27,000 gallons of fuel leaked out of a massive underground facility at Red Hill and we still don’t know where it all went.

There is concern in the community that the spill could migrate to an aquifer which supplies a portion of Honolulu’s drinking water. Members of the Senate’s Red Hill task force were set to meet Wednesday morning to talk about the condition of fuel tanks.

Marc Delao

But we’ve just learned that meeting has been postponed. The Conversation sat down with Navy facilities commanding officer Marc Delao yesterday afternoon. He is trained as an engineer. Delao cautioned about jumping to conclusions with preliminary tests that looked at the rate of corrosion of the steel tanks.

The Board of Water Supply released the test results from one tank that indicate a thinning in some sections and it if ears there could be another leak. There are calls to double line the steel tanks in an effort to protect our drinking water. The Sierra Club thinks the military should build new tanks elsewhere.