Water samples taken by state health inspectors earlier this week at Red Hill Elementary School and Aliamanu Child Development Center, where fuel is suspected of contaminating the drinking water, were damaged in transit and unable to be analyzed by a lab in California, according to the Hawaii Department of Health.
Military housing around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii noticed a bizarre odor in their drinking water Monday, following a nearby Navy fuel leak.
The U.S. Navy said it is investigating reports of a "chemical smell" in drinking water at some military homes in the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam area Sunday evening. A military wife told Hawaiʻi Public Radio the water smells like diesel fuel.
U.S. Navy recommended Monday night that Joint Base Pearl Harbor – Hickam military housing residents avoid ingestion of their potable water as a cautionary measure "if chemical or petroleum odors are present." The Navy said tests from water samples at various locations in the area, including military housing, "have not detected petroleum constituents in initial testing."