Honolulu Board of Water Supply advises caution for water use

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HONOLULU (AP) — The Navy has announced that the drinking water supply in the Red Hill area is safe, but the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has urged customers to be concerned about the water.

HONOLULU (AP) — The Navy has announced that the drinking water supply in the Red Hill area is safe, but the Honolulu Board of Water Supply has urged customers to be concerned about the water.

In a news release Wednesday, the Navy Region Hawaii office said samples from the Red Hill Shaft drinking water well showed “non-detect” levels of fuel contamination, reported the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (https://bit.ly/1cQxmvm).

The Navy’s announcement came just as the water board sent out letters to its 170,000 customers expressing concern about the 2014 leak from one of the facility’s tanks that released 27,000 gallons of fuel into the ground.

The Board of Water Supply has pointed out that the World War II-era fuel tanks are located 100 feet above the water that provides about 25 percent of the supply used for customers from Moanalua to Hawaii Kai.

The city agency said it plans to get more information about the facility and conduct its own groundwater studies.

Lab tests have been conducted at least quarterly since the leak. Results have come back consistently within federal and state guidelines “most often as non-detect, or no presence of fuel contamination in drinking water wells,” the release said.

The Environmental Protection Agency has reached a tentative agreement with the Navy and state Department of Health on a plan to improve the Red Hill Bulk Storage Facility. The plan involves further study, more frequent testing and upgrades to all of the aviation fuel tanks at Red Hill.


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