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17845 |
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Date: December 03, 2021 at 19:21:12
From: ao, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Honolulu Shuts Major Water Source After Navy Confirms Contamination |
URL: The city’s water is still safe to drink, but the measure is a precaution because the Halawa shaft draws from the same aquifer, officials said. |
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This is a giant problem.. like wow.. the Navy has been storing millions of gallons of fuels underground.. hidden.. on Oahu.. and the tanks have been leaking.. and the stuff has now found it's way into the water system. Right now it's only in the military's system.. but that's like 100,000 homes.. but now there's fear it's going to get into the city of Honolulu's water..
Honolulu officials want residents to conserve water as city officials work to prevent the petroleum contamination affecting 93,000 people who rely on the Navy’s water system from spreading into the broader urban area.
City officials shut down a major water source late Thursday after Navy officials confirmed that the drinking well serving Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam is contaminated with petroleum.
During a press conference Friday, Honolulu Board of Water Supply chief engineer Ernie Lau said that there’s no indication non-Navy drinking water has been contaminated.
But he said the city decided to shut down its Halawa shaft in the wake of the Navy’s admission as a precautionary measure, because the shaft draws from the same aquifer. The Halawa shaft typically provides 20% of the water consumed in Oahu neighborhoods stretching from Moanalua to Hawaii Kai.
“It’s critically important that everybody use only what they actually need,” he said, asking residents to make sure that they aren’t wasting water and to report any examples of water main breaks and other leaks quickly.
Lau said the Board of Water Supply has upped testing of five wells nearest to the contaminated Navy well to once a week in response to residents’ concerns. He assured residents that currently, city water is safe to drink.
“It does not contain hydrocarbons or any other petroleum contaminants, and we will keep it that way,” he said.
Military personnel, family members and other residents who receive water through Navy wells were told earlier this week to stop drinking it after they started smelling and tasting fuel in the water. The Honolulu Board of Water Supply and environmental activists for eight years have been urging the Navy to relocate its underground jet fuel storage tanks, a 78-year-old facility with a long history of leaks.
It’s still unclear whether the tanks are the source of this drinking water pollution. But Lau said testing over the last eight years indicated that the aquifer near the tanks was already contaminated with fuel, and a recent leak wasn’t far from the Navy’s infiltration gallery that collects water for the Navy pumping station at Red Hill.
The unfolding crisis has drawn the attention of Hawaii politicians, including U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono who held a press briefing on Friday in Washington. Hirono said she talked with a number of constituents who drank the tainted water, including one woman she described as being 18 weeks pregnant with a high risk pregnancy.
“She’s terrified that the petroleum exposure might impact her unborn child,” the Hawaii Democrat said. “It took too long for the Navy to take this matter seriously.”
Hirono said the delegation’s main concern is getting safe drinking water to the community, but she also wants to hold the Navy accountable.
“These incidents are not isolated, nowhere near that,” she said.
Hirono is the chair of the Senate Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee, which oversees the Navy, but she provided few specifics about what exactly she and the rest of Hawaii’s delegation could do to address the history of fuel leaks at Red Hill.
She did say that the delegation has asked the Department of Defense inspector general to launch an investigation into the Navy’s operations at Red Hill after Civil Beat reported about military officials trying to cover up a January fuel leak into Pearl Harbor.
The findings from that probe, Hirono said, could influence future decisions, including whether there needs to be a discussion about removing and relocating the fuel farm.
Hirono said at that point “all options are on the table.”
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Responses:
[17855] [17856] [17854] [17852] [17846] [17853] |
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17855 |
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Date: December 10, 2021 at 10:19:41
From: ao, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Here's an update.. it ain't pretty.. |
URL: BWS says keeping Navy fuel out of aquifer will be a long-term challenge |
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Board of Water Supply (BWS) warned Oahu households and businesses Thursday that its system could eventually be impacted by the Navy’s petroleum contamination.
BWS officials also say keeping contamination out of the aquifer will be a long-term challenge.
And with several Board of Water Supply wells now shut down as a precaution, officials say non-Navy water customers could face mandatory water restrictions in the months ahead.
Meanwhile on Thursday, the Navy disputed the Health Department’s conclusion that its Aiea-Halawa well is contaminated. The statement came a day after the state Health Department reported that a second Navy water well tested positive for high levels of fuel contamination.
Continuing Coverage...
• DOH: Petroleum levels more than double safe limits found in Navy’s Aiea Halawa water shaft..
• In wake of well shutdowns, BWS asks residents to use water wisely to avoid restrictions..
• DOH investigates water-related illness at former military housing in Ewa Beach..
Board of Water Supply officials are skeptical of the Navy’s assertions, and are standing by their decision to shut down the city’s Aiea and Halawa wells in a bid to prevent the contamination from spreading.
The agency’s chief engineer says it’s impossible to know how much fuel could be in the ground and where it’s going because access to critical information is being withheld.
“That was the highest hit for petroleum in drinking water for all of the samples taken thus far,” said Ernest Lau. “So where did it come from Navy?”
BWS officials confirmed just about all of the information they receive comes from testing conducted by the Navy. Despite repeated requests over the years, they have not been granted access to military property to conduct their own testing.
At a news conference Thursday, Lau said the Navy hasn’t been forthcoming. That’s even though tests revealed petroleum ― double levels considered safe ― in the military’s Aiea Halawa water shaft.
Lau says BWS found out about the results Thursday over the phone, and he added that the Navy has yet to give them an official lab report or answer even basic questions.
“I think the Navy needs to clarify more as to where that sample came from and under what conditions the sample was collected,” said Erwin Kawata, program administrator for the Water Quality Division.
BWS officials say it’s also unclear how widespread the contamination is on base and where the fuel is moving. The source of the fuel is also unknown, though it’s believed to be coming from the underground Red Hill fuel storage facility, which sits 100 feet above the aquifer.
“The best thing to do right now is the Navy to immediately remove the fuel out of their World War II facility at Red Hill and store it elsewhere. Empty the tanks. Empty the pipelines,” Lau said.
“Because the longer they stay the chances of further leakage, perhaps large amounts of leaks of fuel going right into our aquifer could happen.”
Lau also said time is running out for the Navy to drain its tanks before more wells are contaminated.
Exactly when fuel might reach the public water supply is the big question. “We don’t know,” Lau said. “We have a very rough estimate. It could be six months to a year.”
For now, BWS tests have not detected any petroleum in its system.
Officials are asking people not to waste water and conservation efforts continue to be voluntary.
A joint-informational briefing at the State Capitol with the Navy, Health Department, BWS and deputy director for Environmental Health Administration will be held on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
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[17856] |
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17856 |
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Date: December 10, 2021 at 18:59:43
From: ao, [DNS_Address]
Subject: State: Contamination Far Above Health Thresholds For Drinking Water |
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The first real, independent of the Navy, test results..
City’s Halawa shaft isn’t contaminated but could be closed for years.
State testing of the Navy’s Red Hill shaft found levels of gasoline and diesel range hydrocarbons as much as 350 times higher than state approved levels for drinking water, the state Department of Health announced Friday.
Honolulu Board of Water Supply separately revealed test results indicating that the city’s Halawa shaft isn’t contaminated, but said that its shutdown of the well as a precaution could extend years or even become permanent.
The samples taken by the health department from the Navy water system tested positive for “gasoline range organics,” also known as TPH-g, at levels more than 66 times the state’s limit for drinking water.
Eurofins Laboratory in California found 20,000 parts per billion were present in the samples, compared to the state limit of 300 parts per billion.
The same testing found “petroleum hydrocarbons diesel range organics,” also known as TPH-d, at 350 times above the state’s environmental limits.
The California lab found 140,000 parts per billion of TPH-d were present in the samples compared with the state’s environmental action level of 400 parts per billion.
The state tests also found trace amounts of “petroleum hydrocarbons oil range organics” in water from the Aliamanu Child Development Center that were below the state’s drinking water thresholds.
The Navy earlier had confirmed that its Red Hill shaft tested positive for high levels of petroleum, announcing the results on Dec. 2. The city shut down its Halawa shaft within hours as a precautionary measure, closing off 20% of the supply of water for residents stretching from Moanalua to Hawaii Kai.
The health department has ordered the Navy to empty fuel from the Red Hill underground storage facility, which holds over 180 million gallons of jet fuel about 100 feet above the city’s aquifer. The facility has the capacity to hold 250 million gallons of jet fuel across 20 tanks that are 78 years old and have a history of leaks.
“The longer that fuel stays there, the risk to our aquifer continues and I believe it’s growing,” Ernie Lau, chief engineer at the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, said on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Spotlight program Friday.
The Navy is contesting the health department’s order. Navy officials have apologized for the contaminated water and promised to pay for alternate housing for all of the 93,000 affected residents.
Lau said that the city has been testing five of its wells that are closest to the Navy’s water supply system for the past eight years and never detected fuel contamination. The city is now testing those wells weekly in response to the Navy water crisis and requests from concerned Honolulu residents.
Although the tests of the bureau’s Halawa well came back clean, Lau estimates it would take six months to a year for fuel to travel through the aquifer across the valley if the city continued pumping from the Halawa well while the Navy’s Red Hill well wasn’t pumping.
“We can’t take that chance,” he said.
The Navy is still figuring out how exactly its Red Hill shaft became contaminated. But Lau said if the level of contamination is high, the city probably won’t be able to start using the Halawa well for years — if ever.
If Honolulu’s Halawa well stays out of commission, the Board of Water Supply would have to try to make up the difference by pumping from its remaining wells. Voluntary water conservation could become mandatory, he said, including measures such as allowing irrigation only on alternate days or barring car washing with a hose.
“I hope we don’t have to do that,” he said.
He added, “We think it’s going to be very difficult and could take awhile” for the Navy to clean up the contamination.
Lau stressed the need to identify the source of the contamination as soon as possible.
The Navy has three sources of water from the aquifer, and now two of them are out of commission, raising questions about how it will meet demand from Navy customers who use 18-22 million gallons per day. Hundreds of families have moved into temporary housing in hotels as the water crisis continues.
Lau expressed skepticism about the Navy’s promises to protect the drinking water and anger at the Navy’s opposition to the Department of Health order to empty the fuel tanks.
“Their actions are not consistent with their words,” he said. The crisis, has left him “deeply saddened. This is all avoidable.”
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Responses:
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17854 |
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Date: December 10, 2021 at 07:30:05
From: shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Honolulu Shuts Major Water Source After Navy Confirms... |
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Well, don'tcha know, maintaining the illusions within the
whole global *scramble for Power/Biggest Guns* Game
trumps any need for designing/implementing basic
foundational safety protocols that protect humans, in
this context...
Any neocon republican would agree... Wherever there's a
choice between prioritizing money, or human safety, money
will always win hands-down...and our military, like all
of them, are entirely controlled and overshadowed by
those at the global "top," on their perverse
chessboard...and whose values, so curiously!, are exactly
the same...by my lights, anyway... ;->
Win! Win! Win! And those who die in so many ways, at
their hands, in the process of winning? No worries!
They've died for a "sacred" cause, and God will sort out
"His" own... *shudder*
Fucking savagery...
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17852 |
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Date: December 09, 2021 at 12:20:07
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Honolulu Shuts Major Water Source After Navy Confirms... |
URL: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/navy/585112-navy-says-petroleum-contamination-detected-in-second-water-source-in |
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Navy says petroleum contamination detected in second water source in Hawaii
By Jordan Williams - 12/09/21 12:29 PM EST
The Navy reported petroleum contamination in a second water source at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.
The Navy reported the contamination at the Aiea Halawa Shaft, the Hawaii Department of Health said in a statement, according to CNN.
Testing at the shaft found 920 parts per billion of total petroleum hydrocarbons diesel range organics, over double the state’s acceptable limit of 400 parts per billion.
The water sample was taken on Sunday, according to Hawaii News Now. The well has been offline since Friday.
“The level of this contaminant poses a public health threat, and is considered unsafe to drink,” Kathleen Ho, deputy director for environmental health, said in the statement, Hawaii News Now reported.
“This news is concerning — especially as the cause of the petroleum release into the Navy’s water system remains unknown,” Ho continued. “We will continue to take all possible action to protect public health and the environment.”
The Hill has reached out to the Navy and Hawaii Department of Health for comment.
News of the Aiea Halwa Shaft came the same day that the Navy paused operation of the Red Hill Underground Storage Tanks while the U.S. Pacific Fleet investigates the source of petroleum that was contaminating the water system.
Last Friday, the Navy said it detected vapors and petroleum hydrocarbons in the Red Hill well, but said it was “four to ten times below” state requirements.
Earlier this week, the Navy said it would suspend use of the complex — which sits above an the Red Hill aquifer that provides 20 percent of Honolulu’s drinking water — after about 1,000 military households complained of contaminated tap water
Health department spokesperson Kaitlyn Arita-Chang told CNN that the source of the Red Hill contamination was identified as jet fuel.
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17846 |
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Date: December 04, 2021 at 09:44:52
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Honolulu Shuts Major Water Source After Navy Confirms... |
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the island aquifers are lens shaped reservoirs that sit under the land masses and basically float on the sea water that surround them...seems if these pollutants have gotten into the lens they will spread everywhere...yeah, like wow! fucking military...worst polluters on the planet...
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[17853] |
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17853 |
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Date: December 10, 2021 at 05:48:29
From: Mitra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Honolulu Shuts Major Water Source After Navy Confirms... |
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The Navy had mistakenly put jet
fuel in an aircraft carrier water
tank, it was emptied and replaced
with water.
Everyone who drank the water from
that tank lost their teeth.
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