San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Honolulu utility shuts well to halt tainting of water
HONOLULU — Amid a continuing crisis over fuel contaminating the Navy’s tap water at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu’s water utility shut off one of its wells so it doesn’t taint its own supply with petroleum from an underground aquifer it shares with the military.
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply said Friday that it acted shortly after the Navy disclosed that a water sample from one of its wells had shown the presence of petroleum. The well is near a giant World War II-era underground fuel tank complex that has been the source of multiple leaks over the years.
The tap water problems have afflicted one of the military’s most important bases, home to submarines, ships and the commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region. They also threaten to jeopardize one of Honolulu’s most important aquifers and water sources.
Nearly 1,000 military households have complained about their tap water smelling like fuel, or of physical ailments including stomach cramps and vomiting. The Navy water system serves 93,000 people.
The Navy said it would flush clean water through its distribution system to clear residual petroleum products from the water. The process, followed by testing to make sure the water meets Environmental Protection Agency drinking standards, could take up to 10 days.
The Navy said it will investigate how contaminants got into the well and fix it. In the meantime, military officials say they will help affected families move into hotels or new homes.
The utility’s Halawa well produces 10 million gallons a day under normal conditions, supplying 20% of the water serving urban Honolulu. The utility will draw on other wells in the meantime and will only run its Halawa well to test the water for contamination, said Ernie Lau, the Board of Water Supply’s chief engineer.
To protect Oahu’s water, Lau urged the Navy to remove the risk posed by the Red Hill Fuel Storage Facility. It consists of 20 aging tanks, each as tall as a 25-story building, that were built in the early 1940s.
“We cannot wait any longer,” Lau said. “The water resource is precious. It’s irreplaceable. There is no substitute for pure water, and our lives depend upon it.”
Environmental and Native Hawaiian groups, meanwhile, are demanding a meeting with Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro. He’s scheduled to visit Hawaii this week to attend a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.