Navy: No sign of taint after Hawaii spill

HONOLULU — The Navy says there is no evidence of any drinking water contamination after a spill of about 1,100 gallons of fire suppressant at a fuel facility in Hawaii.

A cleanup is underway at the Red Hill fuel facility after the spill Tuesday of Aqueous Film Forming Foam, which is used to suppress fires caused by flammable liquids such as fuel and contains PFAS, a class of chemicals that are slow to degrade in the environment.

“This is egregious,” said Kathleen Ho, a state environmental official. The foam “contains PFAS forever chemicals — groundwater contamination could be devastating to our aquifer.”

Navy Capt. M.D. Sohaney, commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, said there is no indication of contamination and that the nearest well is a mile away and no longer supplies drinking water. The nearest such well is about 6 miles away, he said.

PFAS were developed as coatings to protect consumer goods from stains, water and corrosion. Studies of lab animals given large amounts of PFAS have found that some of them may affect growth and development, reproduction, thyroid function, the immune system and the liver.

Ho said state regulators “will hold the Department of Defense accountable and will press the operator to take any and all appropriate corrective action.”