PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii: The U.S. Navy is scrambling to repair its drinking water facilities at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after fuel leaked into the water, which was then used in thousands of military homes.
The fuel storage installation, hidden inside a mountain ridge overlooking Pearl Harbor, leaked into a drinking water well and contaminated tap water sent to families in military housing.
The storage tank has provided fuel to military ships and planes crossing the Pacific Ocean since World War II.
Lawmakers have called the fuel leak a “crisis of astronomical proportions.”
More than 5,900 residents of naval housing have complained of symptoms, including nausea, headaches and rashes, and the military has relocated some 4,000 members of military families into hotels and flew in water treatment systems from the mainland.
The Navy has spent more than $250 million addressing the public health emergency in the first six weeks since the start of the water crisis.
Meanwhile, native Hawaiians, veterans, liberals and conservatives across Hawaii are pushing to shut down the tanks, even though the Navy says they are vital to the nation’s security.
“Frankly, it has been a nightmare and a disaster. A total disaster,” said US Rep. Kaiali’i Kahele, as reported by the Associated Press.
Last month, Navy Rear Adm. Blake Converse, the deputy Pacific Fleet commander, told lawmakers that the Navy must take the blame, stating, “The Navy caused this problem, we own it and we are gonna fix it.”
The Navy has not determined how petroleum leaked into the water supply, and officials are investigating a theory that jet fuel spilled from a ruptured pipe last May and somehow entered a fire suppression system drain pipe.
Lauren Wright, who suffered from peeling skin, nausea and vomiting, noted that her symptoms disappeared only when she stopped drinking, showering and washing dishes with her home’s water, according to the Associated Press.
The Navy has been trying to clear petroleum from the contaminated well and pump it out of the aquifer. Officials are also flushing clean water through the Navy’s water system.
Last month, the Navy said it would comply with an order by Hawaii’s Democratic Governor, David Ige, to drain the tanks and not use them until it is safe to do so.
But this week, the Navy said it is seeking time to work on solutions that would not affect short-term Pacific operations.
“We recognize how much these events impacted the lives of so many, and we are firmly committed to restoring safe drinking water in a manner that builds trust and protects the land and the waters of Hawaii,” Converse said during Congressional hearings.
