March 28, 2024

Navy: Jet Fuel Spill Caused Water Contamination

Water
Sailors and Marines assigned to various commands hand out fresh water at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Navy Exchange Mall parking lot. (US Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Joseph M. Buliavac)

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

US Navy officials believe contaminated tap water that went to Hawaii military households came from a one-time jet fuel spill last month and was not caused by a leak from aging underground fuel storage tanks above an aquifer, reports Military Times.

The US Army Corps of Engineers presented its plan to flush and filter the contaminated water system at the Aliamanu Military Reservation and Red Hill neighborhoods in Hawaii, reports Hawaii Public Radio. The plan will occur in two phases that can occur simultaneously and will be using carbon filtration water filters. The goal is to have them installed by January 2.

Water from the Navy’s Red Hill shaft contains high levels of gasoline and diesel fuel hydrocarbons, the Hawaii Department of Health confirmed, saying the results are consistent with odors detected at the sample sites, reports Hawaii Public Radio. Last week, the Hawaii Department of Health demanded that the Navy halt operations at a Navy fuel storage facility after a leak led to contaminated drinking water — forcing 700 people from their homes and sickening families, CNN reported last week.

The contamination has affected many aspects of military families’ day-to-day lives, reports Military Times.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told leadership at the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, and the General Services Administration that he has “serious questions” about wide-scale government telework, reports FCW. He has doubts, particularly about the effects of telework on service levels for Americans seeking government benefits, according to a December 8 letter.

USAF SEC Frank Kendall said the Air Force wants to give the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber a drone sidekick, reports Breaking Defense. Kendall also told Politico that the service would seek funds for new two classified combat drones in its fiscal 2023 budget request.

Part of a $60 million security assistance package, including small arms and ammunition, was delivered to Ukraine on Thursday, reports CNN.

Australia has entered into a $700 million contract with South Korean defense giant Hanwha to build 30 self-propelled howitzers and 15 armored ammunition resupply vehicles, reports Breaking Defense.

The Pentagon has created a new position to lead its artificial intelligence efforts, reports FCW. A chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, starting February 1, 2022, will be based in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, reporting to the deputy defense secretary.

 

 

Attack submarine USS Connecticut has made its way to San Diego, CA, reports USNI News, after transiting the Pacific Ocean on the surface due to damage from a collision in the South China Sea in October.

The Navy’s new USS Savannah combat ship will be commissioned in early 2022, reports The Associated Press. The February 5 ceremony will take place in Brunswick, GA.

A recent Government Accountability Office report reveals that progress has been made in efforts to overhaul the government’s security clearance processes, and more milestones are expected next year, reports FCW. The December 2021 report evaluates, among other things, the extent to which the TrustedWorkforce 2.0 has been implemented.

US StateSec Antony Blinken is in England for a series of meetings with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, reports Voice of America. The meetings also will take him to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hawaii.

The resettlement of Afghan refugees in the Washington, DC, region has aid groups scrambling to keep up with a huge influx of evacuees, reports The Washington Post, leaving families waiting for housing and other services in a situation that could soon worsen as plans move forward to close temporary housing sites on military bases.

Marine GEN Frank McKenzie, US commander for the Middle East, told The Associated Press that despite the shift by US forces to a non-combat role in Iraq, they will still provide air support and other military aid for Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State.

Former Calvert County commissioner and Maryland state senator Bernie Fowler Sr. passed away on Sunday, reports The BayNet. The 97-year-old Fowler will be best known for his many efforts to clean up the Patuxent River. His wade-ins to check the river’s water clarity became an annual event.

Services for former US Sen. Bob Dole on Friday included an event for the public at the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, reports Roll Call. Dole had served as the chairman of the campaign to build the memorial. As part of the services, the motorcade carrying his casket made a stop at the memorial on the way to Joint Base Andrews for Dole’s last visit to his native Kansas.

Veterans groups in Beatrice, NE, are one year in with their Buddy Check program for area veterans, reports the Beatrice Daily Sun. They meet once a month for a meetings. “Some months we have a speaker and some months we just hang out. It’s a social gathering of veterans dedicated to reducing and eliminating veteran suicide,” said one of the program’s volunteers. “We continue our service by gathering with fellow veterans. We call and reach out to those who served at our side. We stood together then and we stand together now.”

Operation Christmas Drop, now in its 70th year, involved airmen from the 36th Wing, 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing, and 374th Airlift Wing gathering, packing, and dropping pallets of supplies from C-130s to more than 55 remote islands in the southeastern Pacific, reports Air Force Magazine. It is the Pentagon’s longest-running humanitarian mission.

Contracts:

Raytheon Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $145,288,785 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification (P00002) to a previously awarded contract (N0001921C0068). This modification exercises options to procure material and support equipment for depot maintenance facilities as well as supplies, services, and planning for depot activations in support of F-35 aircraft sustainment efforts for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (30.5%); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (22.2%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (13.5%); Jacksonville, Florida (7.3%); West Palm Beach, Florida (5.8%); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (3.7%); Indianapolis, Indiana (3.0%); Willliamtown, New South Wales, Australia (2.9%); Iwakuni, Japan (2%); Foggia, Italy (1.6%); Patuxent River, Maryland (1.4%); Edwards Air Force Base, California (1.4%); Luke Air Force Base, Arizona (1.2%); Brekstad, Norway (1.2%); Leeuwarden, Netherlands (1.1%); Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida (1%); and Brandon, United Kingdom (0.2%), and is expected to be completed in September 2024. Fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $59,531,081; fiscal 2021 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $59,531,073; and non-U.S. DOD participant funds in the amount of $26,226,631 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

OptumServe Health Services, La Crosse, Wisconsin, was awarded a $172,429,013 modification to their current indefinite-delivery bridge contract (HT0011-19-D-0002). This award, titled “Reserve Health Readiness Program,” provides health readiness support services to the military service components to meet medical and dental standards essential in maintaining a deployable force. This sole-source bridge contract award extension (#3) is to prevent a gap in services. Services include immunizations, physical examinations, periodic health assessments, post-deployment health reassessments, mental health assessments, dental examinations, dental treatment, laboratory services, and other services as required to satisfy military service component health readiness needs. Services are delivered at military service component designated sites during group events, through the contractor’s call center, and within an integrated network. The work will be performed in every US state and territory; Washington, DC; and Germany, with a period of performance of Dec. 1, 2021, to Nov. 30, 2022. Fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance funds will be obligated on task orders issued under this award. This contract was awarded on an other than full and open competition basis, pursuant to the authority of 10 US Code 2304 (c) (1). The Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Nov. 30, 2021)

Curtin Maritime Corp., Long Beach, California, is awarded a $26,992,265 firm-fixed-price contract for construction of new dredging and maintenance dredging at Naval Station Norfolk. The work to be performed consists of new dredging of Pier 11 South berth expansion area, and maintenance dredging of the outer berths of Piers 5 and 6 North. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by June 2022. Fiscal 2022 operation and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $26,992,265 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the beta.sam.gov online website with two proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-22-C-0003).

The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, has been awarded a $50,000,000 modification (P00002) to previously awarded contract FA8656-20-D-0005 for Air Warfare Systems. The modification provides services for advanced development, acquisition and test and evaluation of aerospace systems, to include munitions, cyber warfare and electronic warfare elements. Work will be performed in Laurel, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by July 31, 2026. No funds are being obligated at the time of award, and the total cumulative face value of the contract is $99,999,000. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.

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