Water Supply Contamination, Oahu, HI

Honolulu, HI, USA | 2021-Dec-21

Initial Notification: On December 21, NCEH/ATSDR contacted the NOAA SSC for the Pacific Islands, on behalf of the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH), for potential technical support related to an ongoing Navy water supply contamination event on Oahu, Hawaii. In late November, residents of U.S. Navy’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) on Oahu, Hawaii began reporting fuel-like odors and taste in tap water. The Navy operates its nearby Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which has had historic and recent releases of fuel. The Red Hill fuel storage tanks are located 100 feet above a groundwater aquifer that provides a significant portion of the water supply for the Island of Oahu. The Navy has shut down a well in the Red Hill water system after a sample collected there confirmed the presence of fuel-related contaminants. The Hawaii DOH has issued a public advisory that Navy water system consumers not drink or consume tap water. The Honolulu Board of Water Supply has also shut down a well that draws from the same aquifer as the Navy’s Red Hill well. Note that the contamination has affected use of water at the NOAA Inouye Regional Center on Ford Island.