Restoring Our Water System

Made by: Auli'i Ebanez

Attempting to fix and restore our Aquifer on the Island of Oahu

 When the Red Hill line burst and thousands of people were relocated this year, many people asked, what is Red Hill and what happened? Red Hill is a jet fuel storage facility on the island of Oahu which leaked from excessive amounts of pressure. With the leakage of the jet fuel, it can cause petroleum exposure which is the symptom of dizziness, headaches, nausea, and possible death. While the government did recently empty the tanks, there are still massive amounts of jet fuel residing in the water. Military personnel as well as families surrounding the area have been evacuated but are slowly filling in to their original homes.

 With the water becoming polluted, Red Hill has become an undrinkable water resource. With the very recent spill of PFAS, which is a cancerous, forever chemical that can lead to extremely toxic and undrinkable water, the aquifer has become more in danger than it previously was. Products that contain PFAS are pesticides, fire fighting foams, cleaning products, and makeup. If one were to ingest PFAS, you can obtain nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and possible death. The government recently covered the infected area with a tarp in case it rains, so the product doesn't spread, killing more of the aina.

Red Hill has been around for many generations before our own. In 1940, construction began to build fuel tanks within the hill to store jet fuel tanks where they would be able to store 250 million gallons of fuel. Presently, the tank that has been there for over 80 years has endured massive amounts of pressure, corrosion, and other issues. In November 2021, a fuel tank leak began to arise. With the leak came the contamination of the water, leading 100,000 residents from Halawā to Hawai’i Kai to become sick and left with undrinkable water. Many were forced to seek medical attention as a result of their severe petroleum exposure. 

Hawaiians and those who understand the history have been protesting and been engaged for almost 60 years.The protesting can vary from the building of the telescopes on Mauna Kea in 1968, to present day protesting to shut down red hill. Although city officials have seen them protesting, they haven't noticed them with the bigger issue on hand.  

On November 16, 2022 Hawai’i news now recently spoke about Red Hill. In this program, they told how in a September survey over 93,000 serving military personnel were potential recipients of the contaminated water. In this interview, news reporters interviewed Meredith Wilson, whose husband is currently in the air force. She said how she drank the polluted water and had effects such as vertigo and constant migraines. As she went to the doctor, the doctor responded how she was “the fifth female in two weeks”. From this, we can conclude that the water has affected not only the environment surrounding the hill, but the people as well.

 Red Hill began their defueling procedure on November 2nd, 2022, even though it will take many years for the water to be as pure as it was 80 years ago, this is just the beginning. But even with the unclean water, few families gradually began to move back into and stay in their original houses. It is still advised for residents to boil their water beforehand which can raise questions.