At the Honolulu Board of Water Supply meeting on Aug. 26, experts hired by the utility testified that a Navy contractor failed to properly follow water testing and sampling procedures in the monitoring of the Red Hill water system.
The findings of Analytical Quality Associates and a Colorado consultant call into question the levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons reported by the Navy. It also noted that the improper testing protocols weren’t caught by the regulators — neither the state Department of Health nor the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency flagged the error.
The Conversation talked with Amy Miller from the EPA's Region 9 Enforcement and Compliance Division about the concerns of the water board and community members regarding the discrepancy.
While the Navy vendor's misstep of not removing the chorine from the water prior to testing may have skewed the results in that case, Miller said it does not invalidate the other tests conducted on the 8,000 samples taken for other contaminants. This is just the latest dispute after a fuel spill made its way into the Navy’s drinking water in November 2021.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Aug. 28, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
