State health officials over the weekend flagged the additional detection of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in a Waialua drinking well.
The compounds of these "forever chemicals" don’t break down easily and can be traced to materials used on plantations in the past and to firefighting foam used by the military.
The Environmental Protection Agency also announced last week that it wants the military to do additional groundwater monitoring of known areas where there have been past spills.
A request from the EPA was discussed at last week’s Red Hill Fuel Tank Advisory Committee briefing at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center.
Ernie Lau, the chief engineer for the city’s Board of Water Supply, asked that the Navy provide unredacted information about the previous spills to the public in light of the growing concern about the hazard to public health.
He urges transparency from the military about the past spills at its Red Hill facility, as well as any adjacent properties to better assess the threat to our drinking water aquifer.
The Conversation hears from Lau and Allison Fong, out of the EPA’s Region Nine office in San Francisco, this morning about the emerging threats to the environment and public health.
This story aired on The Conversation on March 11, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
