Navy: Toxic Forever Chemicals Detected In Groundwater Near Red Hill
The Navy says the Pearl Harbor drinking water system is safe.
Recent Navy testing of the groundwater near the Red Hill fuel storage facility showed detections of toxic forever chemicals known as PFAS, the Navy said in a press release on Tuesday.
Samples taken from four of 21 groundwater monitoring wells showed exceedances of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, known as PFOS, which falls under the umbrella of PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances.
PFAS chemicals are toxic ingredients commonly found in plastic, nonstick consumer goods and firefighting foam. They are known as forever chemicals because they don’t break down in the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced earlier this year that even minuscule amounts of some PFAS, including PFOS, are dangerous to human health.
The Navy’s press release did not identify the concentration of PFOS found in its test results.
The Navy said it notified the EPA and the Hawaii Department of Health of the results. It started testing its groundwater wells for PFAS following a spill of 1,300 gallons of PFAS-containing firefighting foam concentrate in November, 2022. However, the “profiles of the PFOS” found in the recent testing don’t match those of last year’s leak, according to the Navy. The Navy’s press release did not speculate on the source of the PFOS found in its samples.
The Navy said its water system “continues to meet regulatory requirements and remains safe to drink.”
Currently, water from the Red Hill drinking water shaft is being pumped, filtered and dumped into the Halawa Stream. It has not been used by drinking water customers around Pearl Harbor since fuel was found to have contaminated the well in November 2021.
Instead, those residents are relying on water from the Navy’s Waiawa water shaft, located six miles from Red Hill. The Navy says that well is safe, even as residents on the Pearl Harbor water system continue to report health problems some believe to be related to the water.
“The Waiawa Shaft was most recently sampled on Oct. 24 and did not detect PFAS,” the Navy said.
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply is not currently distributing water from its wells near Red Hill.
