Green ‘super concerned’ about petroleum-based detections in 7 Hawaii schools - Hawaii News Now
Green ‘super concerned’ about petroleum-based detections in water at 7 Hawaii schools
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - There’s growing concern after seven public schools in the Pearl Harbor area showed detections of petroleum-based chemicals.
HNN Investigates first reported the story last week amid a surge of detections throughout the Navy’s drinking water system.
Gov. Josh Green, who’s a physician, appeared on HNN Sunrise on Monday morning and responded to concerns about intermittent detections of a contaminant called total petoleum hydrocarbons at the schools. The seven schools are the same ones that couldn’t use the water for months during the tainted water crisis in 2021, when the Navy’s fuel from its massive Red Hill tanks contaminated its drinking water system and sickened thousands of people.
“I’m super concerned,” said Green, of the detections.
HNN asked Green if he thought the water was safe.
Navy Water Crisis
“I always want to validate and prove it with many multiple samples,” said Green.
“It is so critical that people not have any petroleum in their bodies because it can be carcinogenic,” he added.
Logan Okita is vice president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association and is a resource teacher at Nimitz Elementary.
“I wasn’t surprised that something popped up. I was surprised with how long it took for that information to be shared with us. I learned about from your report,” said Okita.
On the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Safe Waters website, HNN Investigates found Nimitz Elementary was tested in October. It had two detections of total petroleum hydrocarbons-diesel between 51.1 and about 65.2 parts per billion along with one non-detect.
“I didn’t trust the water before the crisis and have always taken my own water,” said Okita.
Health Department, EPA open new probes into chemicals found in Pearl Harbor tap water
Pearl Harbor Elementary was also tested in October and five TPH-diesel detections ranged from 53.6 to 88.1 parts per billion.
Hickam Elementary was tested in January. For TPH-diesel, there were three non-detections and two detections of 63.5 and 68.7 parts per billion.
The Navy has said its surge in detections were all below 266 so its water continues to meet federal and state safe drinking water standards and the TPH detections do not match fuel.
“Where were all of you last summer when there was an uptick,” asked Mandy Feindt, Red Hill Community Representation Initiative member during their meeting earlier this month.
7 public schools in Pearl Harbor area show detections of petroleum-based chemicals
“The residents and the concerns that are expressed to the Navy are extremely important to us. We use that as we try to follow the bread crumbs to unravel this mystery,” said Rear Adm. Chris Gray, commander of Navy Installations Command.
“Petroleum Hydrocarbons are a large class of chemicals made up of carbon and hydrogen that are the primary compounds found in common fuels such as kerosene, gasoline, diesel, motor oil, and different jet fuels, including JP-5,” said the state Department of Health in a previous statement.
“There are no multiple lines of evidence to date to support the conclusion that the carbon in the samples, with detection in the diesel or oil range organics, were fuel based,” it added.
On Monday, the state Department of Hawaii released a statement:
“The Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) continues to collaborate with the Hawaii Department of Education on issues related to public schools, including those served by the Navy’s drinking water system.
Results of screening testing below the action level and not associated with complaints about the drinking water do not trigger a response by DOH, which has been the case at these elementary schools.
TPH results are one of several parameters used to detect and assess threats related to the November 2021 release in the drinking water system. While the screening method for TPH is called total petroleum hydrocarbons, this method does not differentiate hydrocarbons that are derived from fuel or bacteria. Health risk cannot be assessed based on screening values like TPH alone as TPH is not a chemical compound.”
Meanwhile, Green says he met with the deputy secretary of the Navy about requesting $10 million for a health registry and hundreds of millions of dollars needed to remediate the Red Hill crisis.
“They are going to have to remedy all of that. Anywhere there is fuel, they are going to have to clean the pipes, give us new pipeline even possibly give us new wells,” he said.
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