The state Department of Health on Wednesday detected petroleum product in water samples taken at Red Hill Elementary School, augmenting fears about widespread fuel contamination within the Navy’s water supply system that serves an estimated 93,000 people.
The samples were collected on Tuesday and analyzed by a lab at the University of Hawaii. The results are preliminary and information on the exact petroleum constituent and its quantity was not available.
Samples have been sent to Eurofins Scientific, a lab in California, for further analysis, according to DOH.
The testing is being conducted amid hundreds of complaints from users of the Navy’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system. Residents and schools have reported a fuel or chemical odor in their water, as well as a weird sheen and abnormal taste. Some people worry the water is making them and their pets sick. They’ve reported symptoms such as headaches, stomach pains, vomiting, diarrhea and skin rashes.
Military families living in base housing in the areas of Moanalua and lower Halawa primarily have been affected, but nonmilitary businesses and public schools are also on the Navy’s water system.
In addition to Red Hill Elementary School, the following public schools are also on the Navy’s water system according to DOH: Nimitz Elementary School, Iroquois Point Elementary School, Salt Lake Elementary School, Pearl Harbor Elementary School and Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary School.
Holy Family Catholic Academy also said that it detected an odor in its water system on Monday morning.
Red Hill Elementary School will remain open and safety protocols are in place, according to state Department of Education interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi.
Earlier this week, the school taped off sinks and modified breakfast and lunch menus to include foods that can be prepared without water such as frozen foods. Hayashi said that the school also has arranged for dishwashing at alternative locations and is purchasing bottled water and 5-gallon jugs for hand-washing, dishwashing and drinking water purposes.
“We’ve been informed of the preliminary results and continue to work closely with the Department of Health and U.S. Navy to monitor and respond to the ongoing situation,” said Hayashi in a statement.
Rear Adm. Blake Converse said during a town hall meeting on Wednesday evening at Aliamanu Military Reservation that the Navy has not verified the results from Red Hill Elementary School.
“It’s really tough to draw any broad conclusions from one sample,” he said of the DOH test.
The Navy as well as DOH have been taking numerous water samples throughout the area, but it’s taking several days to get results from the mainland lab. Converse said that the first set of results are expected today.
An earlier round of testing at a local lab was determined to be inconclusive.
The delay in getting test results, particularly given long-standing fears about fuel contamination in the water supply from the Navy’s Red Hill fuel farm, has frustrated the public.
“That we have to send our tests to the mainland is just crazy,” said state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, who representse the affected area. She said it also has been a struggle to figure out who is on the Navy’s water system.
Converse said that the Navy has between 400 to 500 reports from people who have detected an abnormal odor, sheen or taste in their water. He said the Navy is working to take samples and conduct testing at all of the locations to help identify the problem and gauge whether it is getting better or worse.
He said the Navy still has not been able to identify the source of the problem.
DOH on Monday recommended that anyone connected to the Navy’s water system not use it for drinking, cooking or brushing their teeth. If a fuel-like odor is detected, the department also recommends that the water not be used for bathing, dishwashing and laundry.
Health officials say complaints continue to be associated with the Navy’s water system and not that of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, which serves the majority of Oahu.
Diana Felton, the state toxicologist for DOH, said that the health effects of drinking or having skin contact with water contaminated with petroleum products are akin to the symptoms that residents have been complaining of. Health effects can include itchy skin and rashes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and headaches. In more extreme cases, Felton said it also can cause respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath and wheezing, if inhaled or aspirated.
It’s not yet possible to ascertain the full risk because the type of petroleum constituent has not yet been identified, said Felton.
“We don’t know exactly what we are dealing with, so we can’t say exactly what the risks are,” she said.
Felton said that once the contaminated water is no longer being used, symptoms typically disappear quickly.
Red Hill
The findings at Red Hill Elementary, albeit preliminary, as well as the widespread reports of fuel odors coming from residents’ water supply, are augmenting concerns that there may have been a significant fuel release from the Navy’s Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility that has contaminated the groundwater. This isn’t just a concern for the Navy. The aquifer in that area is a major source of drinking water for southern Oahu. The Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s nearest well is at Halawa, just mauka of the Navy tank farm.
Navy officials say they shut down their Red Hill shaft on Sunday out of an “abundance of caution.” The shaft draws water from the aquifer just makai of its Red Hill fuel tanks. The Navy constructed a number of monitoring wells near the shaft to monitor for potential petroleum contamination.
The Navy did not respond to questions about whether they had taken samples from the monitoring wells since Sunday, when residents began reporting odors of fuel in their water.
DOH said it had not received monitoring well results specific to the current incident and that the last results the Navy reported to DOH were collected on July 15.
“Specific to this incident, there are no indications at this time that the aquifer has been contaminated,” according to written responses to questions from state health officials. “DOH continues to investigate.”
Residents frustrated
U.S. Navy and Army officials fielded questions and concerns by about 200 attendants Wednesday evening at the Aliamanu Military Reservation Chapel, but affected residents were again left with many questions still unanswered.
A panel of six military officials made it known that they don’t have a grasp on the situation, admitting on several occasions that they didn’t have a response to resident concerns, which included once again how to shower, if any compensation will be provided to those who had to purchase bottled water or how pets would be taken care of if the water made them sick.
One woman said her service dog was sick from the water and that she cannot afford the cost of a walk-in visit to the vet.
“I know that we were told to get our animals checked, but what about those of us who cannot afford that out-of-pocket?” the woman asked. “My service animal is sick as well, and just to walk-in a pet, that’s $120 per pet. That’s almost $250 just to get my dogs seen. They’ve been sick since Thanksgiving. They’re still throwing up and they still have diarrhea. … I cannot afford that out-of-pocket.”
Another asked how her family is supposed to shower after saying her children have since Saturday bathed using only bottled water.
Col. Daniel Misigoy responded, “I’m not going to give you a great answer, but I’m going to give you the best answer I can. Right now with our bulk water sites, my best answer is that bulk water is what you’re going to use to bathe your kids. This is an emergency situation, and we’re looking to figure it out as quickly as we can.”
Misigoy later said that the the short-term plan is to continue distributing water, but there is no long-term plan in case the water remains unusable.
“Right now the plan is treating this as a emergency. … We’re providing bulk water and bottled water, so that is the short term. And we’ll continue and evaluate … as to how quickly we can resolve this — that’s really our goal, is to resolve this quickly. In the longer term, that is something we’ll continue to look at,” he said.
Chace Shigemasa, chairman of the neighborhood board covering Aliamanu, Salt Lake and Foster Village, wants the situation to be declared an emergency situation.
He said at Tuesday’s town hall for the situation be declared an emergency so affected residents can file insurance claims.
“My suggestion was to contact the mayor, contact the governor, so we can declare an emergency for these people so they can get help. Right now — we’re not doing anything,” Shigemasa told them.
He asked the panel if they had reached out to Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi or Gov. David Ige to assist with that. Rear Adm. Timothy Kott said he had contacted Lt. Gov. Josh Green but not Blangiardi or Ige.
Shigemasa later told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that water concerns have been an issue at every neighborhood board meeting for years.
