Fuel in tap water alarms Pearl Harbor military families

[George II]

Source: Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Cheri Burness’ dog was the first to signal something was wrong with their tap water. He stopped drinking it two weeks ago. Then Burness started feeling stomach cramps. Her 12-year-old daughter was nauseous.

“It was just getting worse every day,” said Burness, whose husband is in the Navy.

Their family is among hundreds of military families living near Pearl Harbor with similar complaints after the Navy’s water system somehow became contaminated by petroleum.

The problems have afflicted one of the most important Navy bases in the world, home to submarines, ships and the commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region. The issues may even threaten one of Honolulu’s most important aquifers and water sources.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-environment-and-nature-navy-hawaii-honolulu-e2e4855150fbccdea5a30848deda83f2

[mahina]

1. It's horrible and we e been urging the Navy to decomission

The fuel tank for decades.

Those poor folks

Aquifers!!

[GB_RN]

2. I Was About To Ask If This Might Be Related To Leaking Bunker Oil

From the USS Arizona. But, it turns out I was close, as it appears it's still related to WWII-era fuel tanks.

My parents bought a house back in the 1970s, that had been built in the 1960s with a buried oil-furnace fuel tank. They removed it in the 1990s due to changing environmental laws, but were subsequently compensated for the removal costs, under the law. If they'd not done so, they'd have had to pay out of pocket later, when they sold the house...and been responsible for any cleanup.

I just looked and depending on what they're used for, underground storage tanks are made of fiberglass, aluminum or steel - or a combination of materials (and can be double or single walled). I would think that fuel/oil would be a bad idea to be made of steel - or at least steel alone, since it can rust. At gas stations I've seen being built, the UST gas tanks look to be made of fiberglass.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

3. Reminds me of a Tom Toles cartoon from 2011.

See: https://www.gocomics.com/tomtoles/2011/02/06

Hope they get this corrected promptly. It could turn into a huge problem for Hawaii since the same aquifer serves Honolulu.

Hawaii currently has three active Superfund Sites and I'm curious if this problem falls under the Pearl Harbor Naval Complex Superfund project.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_Hawaii#Superfund_sites

KY.....