The Board of Water Supply (BWS) in Honolulu has reported a concerning development: for the first time, chemicals associated with crude oil have been detected in its inactive Aiea well. BWS leaders suspect that this contamination might be linked to the Navy’s Red Hill fuel spills, raising alarms about the potential spread of pollution across Oahu.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a class of chemicals found naturally in crude oil, coal, and gasoline, were detected in the Aiea well in late May and early June. This discovery is significant because the well is located over two miles west of the Red Hill fuel tanks, marking the furthest west that such chemicals have been found. According to Ernie Lau, the BWS chief engineer and manager, this is the first instance of petroleum-related chemicals being detected so far from Red Hill.
The BWS shut down the Aiea well in 2021 as a precautionary measure following a massive fuel leak at Red Hill in 2014 and another in 2021, which collectively released tens of thousands of gallons of fuel. Despite the well’s closure, the recent detection of PAHs has heightened concerns about the possibility of a moving contamination plume from the Red Hill site.
Although the detected PAH concentrations were low, some levels exceeded the Hawaii State Department of Health’s action thresholds, prompting BWS to call for more rigorous testing. Specifically, BWS has urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Health (DOH) to compel the Navy to increase the frequency of PAH testing at its monitoring wells to weekly intervals and to also test for PFAS, a group of toxic chemicals known for their persistence in the environment.
The Navy, through its Red Hill Closure Task Force, has disagreed with the BWS’s conclusions, citing extensive biweekly sampling from over 40 groundwater monitoring wells around Red Hill, which, according to the Navy, do not show similar results. The Navy maintains its commitment to environmental protection and the safe closure of the Red Hill facility.
The EPA, in response, has requested additional data and suggested that other potential sources of the PAHs, such as the nearby old Aiea Sugar Mill or road runoff, should be considered. The Navy has indicated that it is preparing a more detailed response to address specific questions about the presence of PAHs in some of its groundwater monitoring wells.
This situation underscores the ongoing tension between the BWS and the Navy regarding the extent and source of contamination from the Red Hill facility, with serious implications for the safety of Oahu’s drinking water supply.
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