Navy Illegally Flushed Tainted Water Into Storm Drains
According to residents and the Hawai'i Department of Health regarding the Red Hill water contamination crisis, the Navy opened fire hydrants and flushed contaminated water directly on to sidewalks and residential streets, which rushed into storm drains. The water ultimately flowed into the ocean without the required state permits, reported The Honolulu Civil Beat.
Recent water samples taken from the Navy’s Red Hill drinking water shaft in Hawai‘i tested positive for high levels of gasoline and diesel range hydrocarbons. These chemicals are associated with diesel fuel that were 350 times above that the level Hawai‘i considers safe, according to testing conducted by the state Department of Health (DOH).
The Red Hill Shaft samples also tested positive for gasoline range organics more than 66 times the DOH Environmental Action Levels (EAL). Trace levels of petroleum were also found in samples collected at the Aliamanu Child Development Center and private residences on the Navy’s water system, according to DOH.
The full laboratory results can be found here.
“The fire hydrants were being flushed for about an hour to an hour and a half down our street,” said Aliamanu Military Reservation resident Abbi Sharpe, reported The Honolulu Civil Beat. “And then I even saw the guys try to clear some of the water that was collecting by sweeping it into the storm drains.”
Discharges into any storm drain system are not authorized without the written consent of the owner of the storm drain, and the Navy is required by the DOH to identify where the storm drain empties into state waters.
The DOH does not know how much contaminated water drained into the ocean during illegal flushing. Sampling or testing where the contaminated water was drained has also not been conducted.
The Navy, Army, DOH and EPA agreed to a “Drinking Water Distribution System Recovery Plan” which details a plan for flushing the system.
Navy water system users are urged to avoid using the water for drinking, cooking or oral hygiene. Users who detect a fuel-like odor from their water should avoid using the water for drinking, cooking, bathing, dishwashing, laundry or oral hygiene.
