The potential threat to Honolulu's water supply lurking underground
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- Опубликовано: 17 май 2024
- Two years after a fuel leak at the Navy's Red Hill storage complex contaminated drinking water at Pearl Harbor, the city of Honolulu is guarding against contamination to its own water supply.
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Ernie Lau is going to go down as one of the heros who protected this island from a major disaster. Mahalo for keeping this issue in the spotlight and fighting for clean water.
I often say, Earnie for President. He's my hero!
I mean it is his job as a engineer for the state water supply.
YESSAH, that’s my boss! Right next to you on this Boss. 💪🏽🤙🏽
Why didn’t he prevent it?
@@TheJuice_1995 he tried to prevent it. The Navy wouldn’t work with him on it. Blame the Navy, the guys that are actually at fault.
Why in the world would the Navy build a fuel storage just above the aquifer that supplies water for people. What a stupid decision by the military. The Navy should be sued and pay for this, in addition to cleaning up their mess
I am from Oahu and was stationed at Pearl when I was in the navy for awhile. The base is old as hell and was built during a time when Hawaii was just a rest and relaxation place. Basically saying they didn’t care. In this situation they will delay as long as possible. The money it costs to clean that up will be immense. If even possible.
@@hansolo8225 so what?
Why do you think they care?
The government does not worry about citizens. They are at the mercy of the government. Free is the illusion.
Haven't you heard the military is in the business of killing people not helping them.
My cousins has always had a heart of gold. Ernest never fails to execute diligence in his work.
The U.S. Navy fought numerous State inquiries about this situaion for decades. Trying to keep things from going public.
What PBS 60 Minutes missed due to the smaller coverage was the Navy’s slow and low cooperation with transparency and accountability. I highly encourage 60 minutes to give this story a full spot and look at our publicly available town halls and the behind the scenes meetings, and how long these town halls and meetings went on as the Navy insisted on their slow pace.
In this longer coverage, recognizing its only a matter of time due to how Oahu’s ground water is formed rather than not being in our system (while it is in the Navy’s systems and how they’ve shafted their own service members), and the Navy’s record of accountability in Okinawa (they can no longer use their ground water) and recently Tokyo Bay (Re: Navy’s response to local governments for cooperation)… this would call into question not singular poor plannings from the Navy but something systematic.
⛲ Thank you for reporting/explaining about the importance of Red Hill/Navy fuel storage leak and asking all the right questions! 🙏
The military will downplay any risk that's guaranteed. The cleanup of this would be astronomical.
Ernie Lau is a great man!! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
This particular tragedy will keep them from talking about all the water that's wasted keeping all the golf courses going which now is causing the fresh water supply to be depleted and replaced by sea water.
Mr. Lau is a saint.
This has been a known issue in Hawaii for over 20 years and Hawaii govt never really raised the alarm. Glad its being addressed now but wonder if its too little too late.
Mahalo Ernie Lau for continuing to Rise for Oahu since 2014!!
I love how this hero has done everything he could to keep us safe. He truly cares and I’ve seen him very emotional about the safety of our water system.
This seems like a blunder to me.
everything the military touches they contaminate the area....
It's always a blunder, always for safety
Yet it never is.
I was bred born and raised here on Honolulu Hi. I always felt blessed that we were able to just turn our faucet on and drink it. NEVER had to spend all that money that many mainlanders do on purified water. When i was a keiki (child) i always thought it was so weird that people in the mainland HAD TO buy bottled water when they traveled here to the islands. Now im almost 50y/o sadly i feel its time to start spending that $$ on other sources of drinking water. We all MUST be self sufficient and LEARN how to self purify h20 because as time goes by EVERYTHING will be or already is heavily polluted EVERYWHERE. I never in my wildest dreams ever thought Id have to start drinking h20 elsewhere then from my tap. Sad days are here and much sadder days are upon us.
My company told about this in 2008 that the containment was crumbling while excavation near it.
Hawaii had the cleanest water in the nation up to the 1980s. Between the pineapple and sugar farmers that no longer do business in Hawaii and the US military machine, only one or two wells are clean still (if that many). 😞
Water was so pure it wasn't chlorinated.
Still some of the best. One of the only states that doesn't poison their residents with flouride
That Hawaii insists on being part of the human race, yet to be left behind in the 1840's is the real human tragedy.
@@bullschitt3666😂😂😂
@@GNMi79 Excellent point. The water the farmers mixed with their chemicals and used in the fields had not reached the water tables yet. It takes decades to percolate naturally down into the reservoirs there. The farmers had to have been aware of this because they all pulled out simultaneously over a period of about 20 years and relocated to South America. This left a large population of people without work and land water that makes people sick and requires special filtration systems to drink now. The generations of land owners that poisoned the wells sold the land and left most of their equipment. Dole even too the "iconic" pineapple water tower with them along with their cannery.
Sugar growers pulled out citing loss of government subsidies and incentives to remain in Hawaii. Their employees were involved in long term studies of the effects of burning sugar can to harvest it. Many employees developed lung diseases and OSHA was involved. So, they had less reason to stay than pinapple.
To seal the deal, these farming families sold land to other unsuspecting farmers, realtors, and developers who are now responsible along with the state for restoring the water table to potable.
Mahalo Nui Loa Ernie !
You can't eat golf balls.
What does contaminating the drinking water has to do with golf balls? Maybe you should drink the water.
@@krp2nyte. It’s not hard to understand, they are taking the water and using it for tourism capitalism….golf courses and resorts
@@krp2nytedo you know how much water is required to maintain a golf course?
Why would our military not maintain these fuel facilities? There is no excuse for these tanks and pipes to leak.
Neglect and incompetence
Republicans hate the idea of being taxed but love the military. thats why
It sounded like they said it is empty now just remnants in the pours of the rock.
following orders duh! u think they are there to serve and protect? only there to serve and protect the khazars and nobody else.
@@slumy8195laziness and complacency, all on taxpayer's dime. That dime would include yours.
Can you do a video on the potential threat to Honolulu's residents called "the horribly inflated housing market"?
You mean capitalism?
Ernest Lau is an amazing man. God Bless him.💖🙏💖
If the water supply was this critical on the island, they should have invested in building a desalination plant long before a potential crisis reared its head.
Right. Because the navy contaminating their water is something Hawaiians should have planned for and paid for. Makes perfect sense. 🤦♂️
How about government not leaving derelict sources of contamination? How about every single project with contaminants (military, construction, oil/gas, etc) actually have a budgeted decommissioning fund as mandatory part of their permitting.
You know how many derelict oil wells there are in the US, where companies went in, drained the public resource, made their money, and left without cleaning up? In 2021 over 130,000 orphan wells that remain unplugged, spewing methane etc. And now tax payers are having to pay to clean up remains from that for-profit piracy.
The water wasters. Military and Hotels.
What do they mean by there's no evidence. A few years back a family had to go to the emergency room because they were covered in a rash because they were using tap water and it was contaminated with jet fuel!
Mr. Lau is a great employee. He's very concerned.
I heard military families are already experiencing fuel in their water. It was on the news, years ago. 60 mins is acting like this is a new story and that the damage isnt alrdy done.
I told them years ago to get tanker ships and pump the water out.. They said it couldn't be done... Then, two years later, they did just that...🙄
Before this it was pesticide used on the sugar and pineapple plantations. Think about it. 😮
Those plantation lands are now being used by Monsanto and other chemical companies doing experiments on GMO crops. They are spraying tons of chemicals and it’s running off into the ocean and into the air.
Yeah, sea turtles had cancer all over their bodies. They saw what happened and changed their ways…..it’s called learning from your mistakes 🙏🏼🩵
Our congressman and senators not doing their job.
How about Flint, Michigan, 60 minutes? 10 years out and nothing has been changed.
Federal response for years was, ‘Deny, Deny, Deny’.
You never displayed Ernie Lau's name. [The captions spelled his last name incorrectly.]
This is a really bad attempt to apologize. Try again
Stop watering golf courses!😢😢
Question?
Why did the pipe cracked?
Or was it the valve that cracked?
@@richelledietz Surprised they released the report...
I betcha at the time of construction they got cheap with materials?
Ernie Lau is our Hero!! Mahalo Ernie!!
So sad
But it's OK to go into the Ocean😮
That's what the Navy thinks.
First problem is, why is there over a million people living on Oahu. Yeah we all know the reasoning, but it should of never happened
countless board of water supply workers are saying to move within the next 2-3yrs as the jet fuel will be mixed in to our drinking supply, right now the jet fuel sit on top of the water but as the aquifer slowly diminishes the jet fuel will soon be in our drinking water as pulled from this main aquifer and distributed, projected to reach our drinking system by year 2030. once the jet fuel reaches the level of distribution there is no safe drinking water, we will either have to move away or come up with solutions of purification process of salt water from our oceans and made in to safe drinking water
The hydrology engineer's calm and factual demeanour is really helping his case.
I’m sorry, that was a dumb question….. why? ….. is it important to remove chemicals from drinking water? You hear a pause from the guy cuz he’s like…. WTF?
The threat looks above ground to me.
Mahalo Ernest Lau
Hawaii was already at risk when the kingdom got over thrown …
The same reason they used one of our islands for bombing practice. Cause they can.
And broke the water table on that island in the process. Now there’s no fresh water there. The US military destroyed it.
@@ecebear3 I know. Military does not care. Nor does The fake state. They are all in bed. It’s a 3some. Military, fake state and HTA.
@@ecebear3 Kahoolawe has always been extremely dry, but its deforestation due to the introduction of sheep and goats contributed a lot to its dryness. The bombing destruction just made things worse.
Pray for Earnies safety...and for all those who drink the water and have drank the water. There will be a concentration of cancers breaking out in the future associated with the dangers associated with this disaster. This entails all the farms and food production as well. Mahalo Mr. Lau. 🙏🤙
Seems like the kind of place that should have a desalinization plant on every corner
I hope Honolulu is investigating alternative aquifers. Sounds like the risk is real and there is no way to remove the chemicals/fuel that has already been spilled.
there is so much blame going back and forth. who is responsible? and if we cannot figure that out, how do we move forward and make sure the people aren't poisoned any more? cmon
ALOHA & MAHALO~🤙
The additives are not stored in the tanks it’s just different fuels additives are added before going to discharge areas.
Should have be a x2 double hall tank, so if 1 leaks it can be contain & detection faster
That's just great! Sounds like the military gives no fawks!
Its the surfers that connect rivers or streams to the oceans.
Fuel stored in pourous rock. WTF. That is stew pid.
I think it already started to contaminate. Everytime we shower before we got the filters, we felt itchy every shower.
How do you suppose the pipe especially designed and reinforced to carry jet fuel was cracked and why arnt they cracking all over the world because there are alot of airports in the world yet this remote military strategic place noden jet age fuel lines are cracked with age? I somhow feel doubt about this supposedly cracked with age pipe.
MAHALO NUI LOA, Ernie for representing our people!! OLA I KA WAI
The other issue is all of the aging septic systems across the island that leak raw sewage into this same porous rock... Then climate change is making the dry side of the island a literal desert. A de-salination plant may be needed sooner than later...
Climate change. 😂😂😂
@@JK-lp6uw. Adam and Eve. Pfttt. Hahahaha 😂
@@JK-lp6uw
@@GNMi79Curious. I'm not from there, but according to NYT work published by Univ of Hawaii and Colorado in 2015 reported a 31% reduction in rainfall in the wet season since 1994. You know, science, not anecdotal opinion. Weird
@@GNMi79 Hawaii's current drought is expected to continue well into next year, and possibly even into the 2024 dry season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast. All 8 of the main Hawaiian Islands have experienced drought conditions. Only select leeward areas of Hawaii Island and Maui have moved into severe or extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
They need to destroy this plant and rebuild...this is going to become a problem for us.
Yup. And if memory serves the US Military is the si glen largest polluter on the planet, or at least in the creation of superfund sites. There’s an upcoming documentary on this we should all be on the lookout for. The illegal colonization of the islands aside, the US needs a military as most if not all countries do but fuel storage/leaks/cleanup is a management issue, and operating with impunity needs to stop immediately. If there was a military threat they’d have it handled in 36 hours but preventing the poisoning a million + people um, yeah…. That’s gonna take a few years. Shockingly and predictable
the fuel tank was built above our water resource intentionally.
Oh the builders allready past away... its the future needs to struggle with this problem..
What the government will always do, especially military, is that all terrible situations will be sugarcoated. So many places, not just Honolulu, are having water issues. Which are all human errors. And most of them aren’t being addressed or corrected. Sickening…..
This is the plus of having multiple pacific assets and military bases I myself work for United States America and have to say we just don’t know why people are contaminating the Americans and our Asian allies
Oh yup the clean up is coming alright 👍
Criminal
That's not fuel leaking hahaha fuel doesn't run in PVC pipes 😂
Ernie is da man!
Welcom to America
Emergency response is needed now not later does anyone remember the 1970 conservation effort off of FT Lauderdale the Osborne reef where 2 million tires were dumped into the water but became a conservation nightmare and a environmental disaster
This has taken waaaaay too long to gain the appropriate level of attention. Don't worry though, the government is here to help and has our best interests at heart 😉
Hawaii: A lost paradise
I trust Ernie.
Nah build more trains.
RO would clean the water. it's just money.
Aldous Huxley's novel, "Island", popped into mind as I listened to this report.
Sad.
The military treats everywhere they are as a battlefield, to be occupied or destroyed. What is the difference?
Machines rule the Earth
It’s and island! You have an ocean desolate!!!
Projects like this have a lot of "What if?" questions at inception which are answered by lazy answers like "Let's just hope it doesn't happen." Well,... It did.
just test the water. let's not freak out about something that "might" happen. If the water tests OK, they you are OK.
Not to sound pedantic, but Hawaii is surrounded by water. We have the ability to turn ocean water into drinkable water very easily these days.
It was known for decades also all these sugar cane and pineapple fields has a lot of pesticides that's why Hawaii has these massive water filter
Tanks around west Oahu this is not paradise
Isn’t there jet fuel in baby formula?
No, but I heard some thing about steel beams
Yep, disaster waiting to happen. Every drop of that fuel needs to be pumped out, completely removed and stored elsewhere.
I lived out there two years ago, and they started having this on the news, and then began to give us free water bottles in the community and that’s when I knew it was beyond bizarre. This has been going on for years. The water was poisoning me and I had no Idea. I had to wash with water bottles in Hawaii of all places. I had to move… I’m surprised this is being covered now. The same guy was saying this when I was there. Who covered up this story? The NAVY messed up. Big Time. They owe everyone big money for this mishap.
Additives to prevent freezing? In Hawaii? Hawaii soil to poros for this type storage.
To prevent freezing WHILE IN FLIGHT. Military Jet Fuel gets carried by Military Jets above 30,000 feet.
Government did it tell them to fix it wit the money they jus sent to other countries
Yet, there is no separate sources for NON POTABLE uses, such as, watering lawns, pools, decorative fountains, etc. Additionally, old cesspools still continue to seep raw sewage into aquifers. And, the Board of Water Supply is the greatest waster of fresh drinking water due to their water main breaks which occur WEEKLY flooding streets while wasting precious drinking water. Hawaii also has the highest water bills in the USA. Red Hill is just ONE of its MYRIAD problems. Dont let them fool yoy.
The island is surrounded by sea water. If they were really concerned with fuel contamination they would build a desalination plant for drinking water. You can test the drinking water for minute traces of fuel. So far nothing. If it was contaminated you’d see it in the news.
It was in the news couple years ago. Do some research it doesn’t hurt. Idk why 60 minutes only talking about it now haha
He doesn't know one way or the other, just like the military. He's just speculating and fear mongering. He has all the "scared" sheep eating out of his hands. It's pathetic.
Nothing but good stuff from the euros, eh?
Another blunder by the DOD
You wanna know what would fix Hawaii’s water problem? Ban golf courses entirely
@@GNMi79 no but it would make more clean water available.
First Protect All water throughout our islands , if it’s not military it’s government allowing development such as the observatories on the top of MAUNA KEA what is deep beneath the water aquifer for most of the Hawaii island .
Note in Hawaiian language no such word as “HON” to pronounce Honolulu its HO NO LULU , not HON
And just think what could be done in Hawaii if we sent a fraction of the money they've sent to Ukraine to Lahaina
Oooh military gone eff'd up
just keep praying to turtle and the lava gods and it will magically go away.