The Honolulu Board of Water Supply says it is worried about contaminants detected in an ʻAiea well that the agency shut down as a precaution immediately following the 2021 Red Hill fuel spill.
BWS Chief Engineer Ernie Lau thinks the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, is all the more reason to accelerate a plan to understand water flow in the Oʻahu aquifer. He said BWS has been testing for chemicals weekly since the 2021 spill.
"It also was detected in that same month of June at a Navy monitor well, just about a half a mile away from our 'Aiea wells, and on the same side of the Hālawa Valley side, on the ʻAiea side," Lau said.
BWS Deputy Manager Erwin Kawata said some PAH chemicals can be carcinogenic, meaning cancer-causing, as well as broadly harmful to human health. He said the chemicals occur naturally in crude oil and other petroleum products.
"For that reason, it's important to monitor and test for these different types of chemicals," Kawata said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health have asked the BWS for additional information about its sampling. DOH wonders whether the chemicals could have come from other sources besides Red Hill, like the old ʻAiea sugar mill or runoff from nearby construction projects.
It also questioned why the contaminants were not found in the Hālawa wells, which are closer to the underground tanks.
"It could be another source. But, you know, what do we know about fuel spills in this whole region?" Lau said, listing the most recent fuel spills in 2014 and 2021. "Those are three knowns of fuel releases in the area. So if the regulators can point to other potential sources, they are welcome to share that information with us."
This issue is expected to come up at several water-related meetings this week.
The Commission on Water Resource Management meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Navy is holding an open house to update the public on the progress of removing sludge from the Red Hill fuel tanks. Then on Thursday, the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative group meets at Windward Community College.
Navy spokesperson JoAnna Delfin spoke to The Conversation about what will be covered at the open house and how the Navy plans to handle public concerns. She said the Navy's drinking water monitoring team and groundwater experts will be there to answer questions about the water and the ongoing sludge removal.
"Last month, we completed removing the sludge from tanks seven and eight at the facility, and we removed around, I want to say, 32 gallons. Now we won't know the actual numbers until we get down into the tanks, open them up, see what's down there, and we can make that actual assessment," she said.
Sludge removal is occurring two tanks at a time, and then crews will pressure wash the tanks to prepare for the eventual closure of the facility, Delfin said.
The military is in the process of cleaning and shutting down the underground fuel tank complex that leaked jet fuel into Pearl Harbor's drinking water in 2021. The military has said it plans to close the Red Hill facility by January 2027.
Editor's note: The Honolulu Board of Water Supply is an HPR underwriter.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Aug. 19, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Sophia McCullough adapted this story for the web.
