Navy detects high levels of contaminant in Red Hill water samples

Water samples taken from the Navy’s water distribution system that serves Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and surrounding neighborhoods have shown potentially troubling levels of a chemical that could raise the risk of cancer. But federal and state health officials say it’s too early to say to what degree it could pose a health risk or whether water users should be concerned.

The results, recently released by the Navy, come just days before many military families and civilians hope to move back into their homes and resume normal water use after jet fuel contaminated the Navy’s water system in November.

The water sampling, part of the Navy’s efforts to clean its drinking water system, detected levels of dichloroethyl ether, or BCEE, as high as 235 times the state’s environmental action level of .014 parts per billion.

The environmental action level represents concentrations of contaminants in drinking water below which health officials think there is no significant risk to human health or the environment. Because BCEE is not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, there are no legal limits on the amount allowed in drinking water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not determined at what levels the chemical might harm human health or whether there is a significant likelihood that the contaminant will occur at a frequency that would pose a public health concern.

Diana Felton, Hawaii’s state toxicologist, said in a statement that there is limited research on BCEE.

“As we continue our work with national experts to learn more about BCEE, understand the detections reported and determine the next steps, Hawaii DOH will communicate any potential immediate drinking water risk,” said Felton. “DOH’s health advisory remains in place. Navy water system users should not drink their tap water unless DOH amends its advisory.”

The health advisory has affected approximately 93,000 residents, numerous schools and businesses at Moanalua Shopping Center. Thousands of military families remain housed in Waikiki hotels and other lodging. Now into their third month, many families have expressed their growing frustration at having their lives disrupted for so long, especially as they try to juggle getting their kids to school and commuting to work.

It’s not clear what the source of the contaminant may be or whether there is a history of it showing up in the Navy’s drinking water system. Navy officials say they tested for the chemical as part of the process of flushing and testing the water to make sure it’s safe to use following last year’s petroleum contamination.

Lydia Robertson, a Navy spokeswoman, said BCEE was detected in eight of the 19 zones that the Navy is flushing and that as a result, the Interagency Drinking Water System Team, which includes officials from the military, state Department of Health and EPA, asked the Navy to investigate further.

She said BCEE has not been found in the Navy’s tests of jet fuel, fuel that has contaminated its Red Hill well or in Waiawa Shaft, which is currently supplying the Navy’s water system. Robertson said that the Navy has taken new samples from its water distribution system and is awaiting the results.

BCEE is mainly used in the manufacture of pesticides, according to the EPA, but it can also be used as a solvent, cleaner and to control rust. It’s also been used in paints and varnishes, to purify oils and gasoline, and occasionally as an additive in petroleum products.

The EPA classifies BCEE as a probable human carcinogen, but it’s not clear at what levels it poses a significant risk. Inhalation of BCEE can result in extreme irritation of the respiratory tract and skin, but it’s much more common for people to be exposed through water. Trace amounts of the chemical have been found in cities throughout the country.

Lawmakers tackle Red Hill

As the Navy works to clean and test its drinking water system, state lawmakers Tuesday advanced a package of bills that take aim at the Navy’s Red Hill fuel facility, which is the source of the current jet fuel contamination.

Two of those measures would make sure the Red Hill facility is shut down. House Bill 2514 would ban large, underground storage tanks with a capacity greater than 100,000 gallons. The Navy’s 18 active Red Hill tanks hold up to 12.5 million gallons of fuel each.

House Bill 2274 would restrict the state Health Department from issuing a permit for a new underground fuel storage tank that poses a threat to the islands’ aquifers. The Red Hill facility sits about 100 feet above a major drinking water source for Oahu. The Navy’s application for a permit to continue operating its Red Hill facility is currently under review by the DOH.

Another measure, House Bill 1954, seeks to ensure that the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, which has shut down three of its wells amid the fuel contamination as a precaution, is reimbursed by the Navy for any costs it incurs as a result of the emergency. The municipal water system has increased water testing of its wells, which have come up clean, and is also debating whether it might need to drill monitoring wells to detect the flow of contaminants in the groundwater or drill new drinking water wells. Those costs would be in the millions.

The House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection and the House Committee on Health, Human Services and Homelessness advanced all three bills Tuesday.

The Red Hill tanks “should be decommissioned, and this is not an acceptable level of risk to have for Oahu’s drinking water supply,” said Rep. Nicole Lowen, chairwoman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee.