Complaints spur Navy to stop using Hawaii fuel tanks

Secretary apologizes for leaks above aquifer, illnesses tied to tainted water

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii — The U.S. Navy announced that it is suspending use of a World War II-era fuel storage complex above a Hawaii aquifer that supplies nearly 20% of Honolulu’s drinking water — after days of complaints that tap water smells like fuel and has sickened some people.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro traveled to Pearl Harbor and told reporters Monday that he was apologizing to everyone affected by what he called a “horrible, horrible tragedy.”

Nearly

1,000 military households have complained about their tap water and some have said they recently have suffered physical ailments such as cramps and throwing up after drinking it.

A water sample returned last week showed the presence of petroleum in water that comes from a well near the underground fuel tank complex that has been the source of multiple fuel leaks over the years.

Del Toro said officials were getting close to determining the cause of the problem and that when the investigation is completed and reviewed, the Navy will adopt water safety precautions.

“This will allow us to implement new safety actions before resuming operations,” Del Toro said.

Separately, the state Department of Health ordered the Navy to suspend operations at the fuel facility, citing the governor’s power to act if there is “imminent peril to human health and safety or the environment” caused by a leak or operation of an underground storage tank system. The department said the Navy could appeal the order.

When asked if the Navy is considering permanently shutting down the fuel tank farm, Del Toro said all possibilities are being explored.

“We’re looking at some very serious options here in the very near future,” he said.

Fuel from the tanks is used to power many military ships and planes that patrol the Pacific Ocean, but Del Toro said the cutoff would “have a very minimal effect, if any, at all right now.”

“I don’t want to get into topics with conversations with regards to how long we can continue to do this for national security reasons, but there’s really no minimum operation to our fleet’s activities or activities impacting the Air Force or the Army or the Marine Corps for any near term at all,” Del Toro said.

The announcement came after Hawaii’s governor and congressional delegation called on the Navy to suspend operations at the fuel storage complex that sits above an aquifer that supplies water to urban Honolulu.

Rear Admiral Blake Converse, deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, told reporters that the use of the tank farm was suspended Nov. 27.

“I know there are concerns that we have not been transparent with the results of our testing and our procedures,” Del Toro said. “You have my commitment and promise that the information that we provide is the most accurate information that we have available.”

The Navy’s water system serves about 93,000 people. Nearly 1,000 military households complained about their water smelling like fuel or of ailments.

The Navy said it would flush clean water through the distribution system to clear residual petroleum products from the water.

The process, along with testing, could take up to 10 days to make sure the water meets Environmental Protection Agency drinking standards.

The water problems have afflicted one of the military’s most important bases, home to submarines, ships and the commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region. They also threaten to jeopardize one of Honolulu’s most important aquifers and water sources.