{"id":58339,"date":"2021-12-01T21:57:49","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T21:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/12\/01\/water-worries-in-hawaii-military-housing-i-am-angry-extremely-stressed\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:25:10","slug":"water-worries-in-hawaii-military-housing-i-am-angry-extremely-stressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2021\/12\/01\/water-worries-in-hawaii-military-housing-i-am-angry-extremely-stressed\/","title":{"rendered":"Water worries in Hawaii military housing: \u2018I am angry, extremely stressed\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For about a week, Navy wife Adrianna and her five children had been experiencing unexplained headaches, nausea, stomach pain, mouth sores, throat and eye irritation, exhaustion and irritability. Her 14-month-old twins had diarrhea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Nov. 28, they smelled fuel in their water<\/a> in their house on Aliamanu Military Reservation in Hawaii, and she called poison control, and started to make a connection with her family\u2019s symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poison control advised her not to use the water for drinking, cooking, washing dishes. Since she started using bottled water for drinking, their symptoms have improved some, said Adrianna, who asked that her last name not be used because of concerns about consequences to her Navy husband\u2019s career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adrianna conducted her own straw poll for housing residents this week, asking about symptoms experienced in the previous week, and found that 116 people reported headaches, 70 reported stomach pain, and 34 experienced unexplained rashes, among other symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alicia Contreras, who also lives at Aliamanu, said her 3-month-old premature twin babies have had diarrhea, and they\u2019ve been spitting up. She\u2019s had headaches and stomach issues. \u201cI am angry, extremely stressed, and very worried,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She contends it\u2019s related to the oily film on the water that comes out of their tap. She provided a video showing her putting a lighter to the water in a cup from her faucet, and although the water didn\u2019t catch on fire, the fire \u201cattached\u201d to the water, she said, and left a hole in the oily film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contreras and Adrianna are among a number of residents of Hawaii military housing areas with Navy-supplied water who are wondering where the fuel smell in their water is coming from, and are fearful about how it\u2019s already affected their health, after drinking and using the water. Families were frustrated by the lack of communication from military and housing officials about possible water issues, and conflicting information they were receiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy\u2019s initial testing didn\u2019t show petroleum contaminants, but they\u2019re conducting further tests. Meanwhile, the Navy and Army are providing potable water for residents at various locations; they\u2019re providing more information through town halls, Facebook posts and other communication. Residents concerned about their water quality can also shower at certain fitness centers, pools, and gyms on base, according to the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Facebook page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents are concerned that their water is being contaminated by another fuel and water spill near the Red Hill facility, which happened sometime over the weekend of Nov. 20 and Nov. 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth the Army and Navy knew that the oil leak had occurred over a week ago and it could impact drinking water, but didn\u2019t notify residents,\u201d Contreras said.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
Military wife Alicia Contreras put a lighter to the water from her faucet in her military housing in Hawaii.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d been drinking the water\u2026. The military and housing officials weren\u2019t telling people anything,\u201d Adrianna said. \u201cThere was never an email until everyone started going into a panic\u201d after they started smelling the fuel, said Adrianna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aliamanu, which is part of Army Garrison Hawaii, gets its water supply from the Navy. It\u2019s one of several military housing areas where residents have complained to the Hawaii Department of Health about the smell of fuel in their water this week. The Navy is conducting further testing, but initial results didn\u2019t show petroleum contaminants, officials said. Results of those tests are expected later in the week. But if residents smell chemical or petroleum odors in their water, officials stated, they recommend \u201cavoiding ingestion as a cautionary measure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawaii Department of Health officials went further in their cautions, advising all Navy water system users to avoid using the water for drinking, cooking, or oral hygiene, in a post on their website Tuesday. And, they added, \u201cNavy water system users who detect a fuel odor from their water should avoid using the water for drinking, cooking, bathing, dishwashing, laundry or oral hygiene.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawaii Department of Health officials stated they\u2019ve had numerous complaints about the odor from consumers of the Navy\u2019s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam water system, including Aliamanu Military Reservation, Red Hill and Nimitz elementary schools, and military housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Army is telling us to contact maintenance for housing, and maintenance said to contact the Navy. \u2026. Everyone responsible is passing the buck, while families like mine are having serious health issues,\u201d Contreras said in an interview with Military Times Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy held town hall meetings with residents in affected communities Tuesday night; Army officials announced a town hall meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening at Aliamanu Military Reservation to discuss the ongoing water issue. Residents can get potable water in the parking lot at the child development center at Aliamanu, from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. until further notice, Army officials announced. Monday and Tuesday, military families were paying out of pocket for water that\u2019s safe to use \u2014 and they were starting to see some stores, such as a nearby Target, running out of bottled water.<\/p>\n\n\n\t