In earlier March the , Navy , notified the , Environmental Protection Agency , that it had detected “unvalidated check results” finding higher levels of overall gas |hydrocarbons, or TPH, in water samples taken from an on- foundation school and a house in the Aliamanu Military Reservation—both of which had their water systems flushed.
In earlier March the , Navy , notified the , Environmental Protection Agency , that it had detected “unvalidated check results” finding higher levels of overall gas |hydrocarbons, or TPH, in water samples taken from an on- foundation school and a house in the Aliamanu Military Reservation—both of which had their water systems flushed.
The , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , also detected “abnormally higher rates of TPH” in drinking water tests from two bridges.  , EPA Region 9 , Director , Amy Miller , sent an internet on Tuesday telling Red Hill Community Representation Initiative table Chair , Marti Townsend , of the exams.
Miller claimed in the internet that later “validated” evaluation outcomes had determined that the samples tested were really healthy because they were” under the method recognition limit.” However, after a group meeting last Thursday, people of the CRI expressed anger that EPA is sharing information about the tests.
” To get this email after the CRI meeting happened, and they had had this information since the beginning of March, is a huge red flag”, said Mandy Feidnt, a member of the CRI, who said that it” calls the , EPA ‘s , integrity into question”.
Authorities did not specify the college where the results were discovered at media time.
The CRI is made up of a mixture of local residents and activists along with people directly affected by the Red Hill water crisis, which began in , November 2021 , when fuel from the , Navy ‘s , bulk Red Hill fuel storage facility entered and contaminated the , Navy ‘s , Oahu , water system, which serves 93, 000 people. The CRI was created as part of a federal consent get involving the EPA, state , Department of Health , and defense regarding the closing of Red Hill.
Concerns have been raised by the CRI and neighborhood members regarding the consistency of tests, particularly in light of the rise in symptoms reported by residents on the , Navy , water line. After the problems began the , Navy , spent months flushing the program, and in , March 2022 , the , Navy , and It declared water from the system was safe to drink again, but some residents remained wary.
The EPA started testing houses where people who reported signs last year. In December, the EPA released a statement after testing four homes. Three of them had signs of gas in the ocean, and in each situation previous , Navy , tests had shown no traces. Since therefore there has been a surge in problems.
” The bottom line is these individuals are also getting quite sick”, said Feidnt. ” And it’s not just household that has been there the entire time; it’s brand-new people that are moving in and have never heard of the water problems before.”
The , Navy, for its part, has assembled a” swarming group” of experts to analyze the ocean. During a , March 7 , meeting of the , Red Hill Fuel Tank Advisory Committee, a DOH initiative, a member of the swarm team said detections of TPH, found in test samples throughout the past two years, did n’t necessarily indicate the presence of petroleum. He asserted that nonpetroleum substances—like substances found in plastic—could set a good evaluation for TPH, saying,” In a sense you may call them false positives”.
During the CRI ‘s , March 2024 , meeting, Capt.  , James Sullivan, captain, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Hawaii, said the way the facility had been testing the waters was” hardly a drinking water strategy” because” as we all know, there should not be propellant in drinking water. So therefore, there was not a method developed for that specifically” and that the service made due with what it had.
Feidnt said that potentially calls all tests into question, and asked “if there can be false positives, why ca n’t there be false negatives”?
According to Miller’s email, the two detections in March had “exceedances above the Incident Specific Parameter ( ISP) level of 266 ppb ( parts per billion )”. On , March 8 , the , Navy , notified the EPA of “unvalidated results” from a classroom sink at a school with TPH detected at 324 ppb. Which school was not specified in the email. On , March 11 , the , Navy , notified the EPA of a reading of 359 ppb from the residence in the , Aliamanu Military Reservation.
” In both instances, the taps were flushed and split samples were collected and analyzed using modified lab methods ( chlorine quenched micro- extraction )”, Miller wrote. The School and the AMR residence both returned validated results that were NON-DETECT for TPH ( i .e., below the method detection limit of 50 ppb) ).
On , March 12, the , Navy , was informed that , NOAA , industrial hygienists had collected drinking water samples from two piers in late February and sent them off- island to an independent, EPA- certified lab for analysis of TPH.
” The results entailed abnormally high levels of TPH, exceeding the established ISP”, said Miller. ” NOAA ‘s , lab reported on 15 Mar, that the initial TPH detections were incorrect. The lab reanalyzed the samples, which were NON-DETECT for TPH in both risers, and produced a memorandum certifying the second, Non-Detect results and voiding the original lab results.  , Navy ‘s , Rapid Response Test was NON- DETECT and the , Navy , also received VALIDATED Long Term Monitoring results of NON- DETECT for both piers, which has addressed the matter of a false TPH”.
Feidnt said” they’ll take the samples and all of a sudden, they’re above the 266—or they’re high—and they’ll come back, they’ll flush the system who knows how many times, then they’ll take two samples, and they’ll split it to validate it. And there’s no record then of there ever being an exceedance. There’s only a record of it being totally fine. And it raises the question of how frequently this occurs.
The CRI has been calling on the , Navy, DOH and EPA to issue a water safety advisory for the , Navy ‘s , water system. In , November 2021 , the DOH put out a water advisory when residents were reporting getting sick and the , Navy , continued to insist the water was safe. By December the , Navy , acknowledged that contaminated water had entered its water line.
The DOH issued an advisory in 2021 but not for the most recent reports of illness, according to the agency’s statement,” the situation right now in March 2024 is different in multiple ways.
The agency said that in , November 2021 ,” there was a known fuel release at the Red Hill facility” and that” through observation of a fuel- like odor from samples taken on the , Navy ‘s , water system, a preponderance of complaints from residents, and the acute nature of those hospitalized or reporting injury, DOH made the quick and precautionary decision to issue a Health Advisory for the entire , Navy , drinking water system on , Nov. 29, 2021 , because the , Navy , did not to do so”.
By contrast the DOH said that currently” the water source for those on the , Navy ‘s , water system is coming from the Waiawa Shaft ( not the Red Hill shaft, which was still in use in , November 2021 , ). The Red Hill Shaft has been shut down since late , November 2021. There has been no known fuel release after almost all the fuel has been removed from the underground storage tanks by Joint Task Force Red Hill.
However, the DOH stated that it “takes reports of symptoms seriously and is working to determine if there is a drinking water related cause.” Using the multiple lines of evidence approach to water quality testing, there is no substantial evidence to support a change in the , Navy , water distribution system’s water quality at this time. However, we acknowledge that some are experiencing symptoms, and we continue to investigate”.
” All we’re saying, as a representative for the community, is the facts are people are sick, there’s a visible sheen ( on the water )”, said Feidnt. What is the harm in putting out an advisory so that people are informed and they can protect their families while you guys figure out what it is, while you get your story straight?
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