U.S. Navy scrambling to remove toxic chemicals from soil outside Red Hill
By Kristen Consillio
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OAHU, Hawaii (KITV) — Board of Water Supply officials are demanding the Navy immediately test its water wells for toxic chemicals they believe will eventually make it into Oahu’s groundwater.
“In my mind it almost felt like I heard the scream or cry from our aquifer — the wai in our aquifer in that area — crying out it said ‘no more contamination, don’t put anymore contamination into our precious wai,'” said BWS chief engineer Ernie Lau. “So I would hope the Navy — I don’t hope, I demand of the Navy — you need to move faster.”
Because any contamination could be catastrophic for generations to come.
“These things can pose serious threats to our drinking water resources,” he said.
The BWS is urging federal and state regulators to order the Navy to fully disclose when and where it is using fire suppressants containing harmful PFAS chemicals and any past releases into the environment.
The exact cause of the the leak is still under investigation and so far there are no indications of any water contamination.
“An incident like this is really concerning. It’s very concerning to me. My team and I must absolutely understand what happened and why,” said Rear Adm. John Wade, commander of the Joint Task Force-Red Hill. “This is a setback, but the bigger picture is we’ve got to remove this fuel from the tanks above our aquifer — that is the threat.”
Wade says because of the mishap plans for de-fueling may have to be revised.
Last night’s fire suppressant spill into the soil outside the Red Hill facility is just a hundred feet above Oahu’s main water supply, alarming officials because these so-called “forever chemicals” are known to cause cancers and other life-threatening illnesses.
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