FEDERAL COURT RULES NAVY IS NOT IN VIOLATION OF CLEAN WATER ACT FOLLOWING PEARL HARBOR FUEL RELEASES

HONOLULU, HAWAII — A federal judge has ruled in favor of the U.S. Navy in a Clean Water Act lawsuit involving fuel releases at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in 2020 and 2021. The October 28, 2026, decision followed a bench trial examining the Navy’s response to the incidents and improvements to its fueling infrastructure. Although the court found that the plaintiffs had established violations when the lawsuit was filed, it determined that corrective measures had rendered the Clean Water Act claim moot.

The litigation, Wai Ola Alliance, et al. v. United States Department of the Navy, et al., concerned petroleum discharges into Pearl Harbor, also known as Puʻuloa, and Hālawa Stream on Oahu. The incidents involved a defueling pipeline at Hotel Pier in 2020 and a separate pipeline release at Kilo Pier in July 2021. The Navy reported the incidents to the Hawaii Department of Health, stopped the releases, and initiated repairs to the affected infrastructure.

Following the incidents, the Navy implemented substantial improvements to its fuel distribution system, including pipeline replacements, corrosion repairs, upgraded pressure-relief equipment, enhanced inspection procedures, and revised operational safeguards. Court records also documented the removal of more than 104 million gallons of fuel during the Red Hill defueling operation, which was completed without a fuel release. Additional infrastructure work remained underway or planned at the time of trial.

Senior U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi reviewed testimony and technical evidence during the nonjury trial conducted from March 31 through April 2, 2026. The court determined that the Navy had demonstrated no reasonable likelihood of future fuel releases from the facility into Pearl Harbor or Hālawa Stream. Based on those findings, the judge concluded that the Clean Water Act violations could not reasonably be expected to recur and ordered judgment in favor of the Navy.

The decision does not erase the violations established by the plaintiffs. Rather, it recognizes that the Navy’s corrective actions eliminated the basis for further relief under the Clean Water Act claim. A separate claim under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), concerning the Red Hill fuel storage infrastructure, remains stayed until August 31, 2027.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) welcomed the ruling, citing the Navy’s response to the fuel releases and its efforts to protect public health and Hawaii’s waterways.

United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Wai Ola Alliance, et al. v. United States Department of the Navy, et al., Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and Order, Civil No. 22-00272 LEK-RT, Docket No. 372, October 28, 2026. (Free Download)

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