Posted on 12/02/2021 5:24:53 PM PST by Jyotishi
Honolulu (HawaiiNewsNow) -- A Hawaii lab has detected a petroleum product in a water sample collected from the Pearl Harbor-Hickam system -- a worrisome finding that comes as the investigation into the source of the fuel-like odor and oily sheen from the water continues.
It’s the first confirmation of what military households and other impacted residents have been reporting for days: That their water smells like fuel and has made them sick. But the results also raise more questions, including how much petroleum is present and what kind it is.
Environmental Health Deputy Director Kathleen Ho stressed the results are preliminary and that further testing is needed. More refined tests are being conducted at a lab in California.
Ho said the sample with petroleum was collected from Red Hill Elementary School.
Meanwhile, the roughly 93,000 customers of the Navy water system are continuing to be advised not to drink the water. Those who smell fuel should not use it for bathing or other household uses.
In addition to military households, several public schools and businesses are served by the system.
Dr. Diana Felton, state toxicologist, said health impacts from petroleum products can be wide-ranging. That’s why it’s important to know what type of petroleum is in the water.
But she said that many of the health complaints from residents are consistent with petroleum exposure across the board. Those include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache and confusion.
While the cause of the problems remains under investigation, there’s intense scrutiny of the Navy’s underground Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility, which has had a number of leaks in the past.
The Navy’s Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system draws from aquifers in Waiawa, Halawa and Red Hill.
So far, the contamination has only been detected in the Navy’s water system.
But Honolulu Board of Water Supply officials worry the problem could spread.
That’s because the underground water source that feeds the Navy’s well in Red Hill can also flow toward the Board of Water Supply’s wells in Halawa.
And when the Navy shut down its well on Sunday, the water board said it made it easier for potential contaminants underground to seep toward the city wells.
“That is not a good scenario,” said Ernest Lau, the Board of Water Supply’s chief engineer.
“If we keep pumping at a higher rate at the Halawa shaft and Red Hill is not pumping, if there’s any fuel in the ground water and it’s moving as a plume then we are going to potentially suck that fuel towards us at a faster rate,”
To prevent that, the water board cut by half what it pumps from those wells and is increasing testing.
A Navy spokeswoman had no immediate response to that concern.
Wayne Tanaka, state director for the Sierra Club of Hawaii, said the Navy isn’t being transparent enough with the public.
“Navy leadership throughout this whole thing has been disappointing to continually tell people that there’s no evidence of anything unsafe when you can literally see film on the water,” Tanaka said.
This story will be updated.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
State inspector detected fuel odor during probe into possible tainted water but tests inconclusive
Military families show oily sheen, distinct smell in water that’s coming out of their taps
Board of Water Supply: Our water system not impacted by possible fuel contamination
I’m going to guess Pele is angry, and it’s the haoles fault.
Blame the Japs for sinking all those ships and blowing up
the on shore storage tanks loaded with bunker fuel and other fuels.
Thankfully, they missed a lot of the fuel storage facilities.
Should the USS Arizona be raised? It ‘s still leaking I last remembered.
BTW I think the Saudis should pay for the rebuilding of the twin towers. Exactly the way it was. Move the UN there along with Rickers Island inmates. Exercise gets gone with 100 flight climbs up and down the stairs. Still a good target.
Yeah, but that is leaking into salt water, not fresh underground aquifer water. Might be a concern to fish, but not humans.
The Japanese missed hitting any on shore fuel storage tanks completely as if they had it would have delayed the start of retaking the Pacific for a couple of years..
Yeah, but that is leaking into salt water, not fresh underground aquifer water. Might be a concern to fish, but not humans.
Weird in any case, because I clicked on this thread just as this song came on in the background:
(Tears of the Arizona, for those unfamiliar.)
WTF does this have to do with the story?
Is it: it’s about oil leaking into water and I, like most Americans, know that the Arizona still leaks oil, so (derp) same same. Then: oil is drilled in KSA, and most of the 9-11 hijackers were Saudis so (derp) same same?
And then some incoherence about rebuilding the towers exactly where they stood, even though it’s now a memorial and the Freedom Tower is already there? What is that about?
And then exercise from stairs at Rickers (sic) Island? I can’t even.
I really need to know the logic behind this post. Please tell me you are in your eighties or under some kind of medication. Or - are you Joe Biden?
Otherwise one might ascertain that this forum is inhabited by retards.
“I really need to know the logic behind this post. Please tell me you are in your eighties or under some kind of medication. Or - are you Joe Biden?
Bourbon, straight, neat, as it comes...
When our LST was on deployment in the Me Cong Delta the evaporator picked up the stuff we pumped out of the bilges. The partial pressure of water was close enough to that of Diesel and lube oil that we lived with the taste and smell for months. That is when I switched from tea to coffee. It was strong and bitter enough to cover the taste and just as oily.
That’s what I was thinking, isn’t the Arizona still leaking even after all these years?
It happened on Biden’s watch...and he calls himself an environmentalist.
Somehow, I have the feeling some news turd will try to make a case that it is Trump’s fault.
That is precisely what they didn't do and why Nagumo was criticized for not sending a third wave to do precisely that.
??
Oahu military water contamination is a crisis of health, environment and trust
December 1, 2001
The USS Arizona has leaked since that fateful day. You can see the oil slick when looking down at the water when standing at the Arizona Memorial.
Thanks for the history, I was going by the numerous fires I saw in pictures. I don’t remember much of that day as I only 4 1/2 years old!
Yes the USS Arizona has a rainbow on the water above its grave. May her crew rest in peace!
They’re lucky (maybe):
I know people whose health was irreparably harmed by contaminated water that didn’t have an odor or sheen (the damage took years).
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