Hawaii declares water safe to drink in Pearl Harbor neighborhood after leak | News, Sports, Jobs

HONOLULU — The state Department of Health on Monday said tap water in a Pearl Harbor neighborhood was safe to drink more than two months after oil leaked from a contaminated Navy fuel storage facility. drinking water supply and sickened thousands of people.

The department said residents of the Red Hill neighborhood could once again use their water. The area includes Red Hill Elementary School and 135 Army-run houses.

Eighteen other neighborhood areas remain under a notice from the department that their water is not potable. The Navy water supply system serves approximately 93,000 people living and working in and around Pearl Harbor.

Officials came to the conclusion after verifying that the contaminated water was no longer entering the Navy’s water system, said Kathleen Ho, the department’s deputy director of environmental health. Authorities also flushed the water lines and tested the water to make sure no contamination remained, she said.

State toxicologist Dr. Diana Felton said traces of oil were found in a sample from the area but did not exceed the threshold the department had set for safety.

Authorities tested samples from 10% of homes in the area before issuing the OK, under a plan approved by the department and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Oil from the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility seeped into a Navy potable water well and entered the Navy water system in late November. Nearly 6,000 people were treated for complaints such as nausea, headaches and rashes in the weeks that followed. About 4,000 military families have been living in hotels since early December.

The department ordered the Navy to drain the fuel from the tanks. The army appealed this order.

The ministry said it would test the water in 5% of homes in the area in the first three months, then in 10% of homes every six months for the next two years.

Some families expressed concern that testing a small percentage of homes was not enough and said they wanted the water in all homes to be tested.

Felton said the 10% home test provided a representative sample of homes in the area.

The Navy said in a news release that military leaders would notify area residents of the change. The Navy did not immediately respond to questions about whether residents of this area would lose hotel allowances granted to them after their water was contaminated.

Wayne Tanaka, executive director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, said he thinks families have legitimate fears and concerns about water safety in their homes. Some homes may appear contamination-free while others are contaminated, he said.

“I would echo the concerns raised by families who are now being asked to trust these assurances that their water will be safe. They’ve heard this before – before hundreds, if not thousands, of people, including infants and children, were poisoned. Tanaka said in an email.