Two independent laboratory consultants hired by the Honolulu Board of Water Supply dispute the Navy’s claim that elevated levels of petroleum found in drinking water samples around Pearl Harbor last year were merely false positives.

In addition, the outside experts say that two years of water quality testing conducted by the Navy was invalid because it failed to comply with an important Environmental Protection Agency step.

The Navy collected these roughly 8,000 water samples after jet fuel leaked from its massive underground tanks at Red Hill in 2021. The leak contaminated the military’s nearby water system, which is used by more than 90,000 people for drinking, bathing and cleaning.

The goal of these tests, conducted by the Navy in 2022 and 2023, was to ensure that the water was completely free of the contaminants that caused serious health problems for many users of the military-operated water system around Pearl Harbor.

Throughout the testing period, Navy officials said, results proved the water system was safe again, although residents continued to report health problems and water conditions.

At Monday’s BWS meeting, board chairman Na’alehu Anthony asked Paul Winkler, a Colorado-based analytical laboratory consultant, whether the Navy’s 8,000 samples were valid.

“From a technical point of view, I would say this is not the case,” Winkler said.

Two other consultants from Analytical Quality Associates, an environmental chemistry data firm, supported Winkler’s view when they presented their own, separate analysis at the meeting.

For some Navy water users affected by the contamination, the laboratory consultants’ testimony confirmed their ongoing concerns about the Navy’s water system and its safety – as well as their frustration with the Navy’s handling of the aftermath of the Red Hill leak.

“This is a great validation,” said Jamie Simic, the wife of a senior Navy petty officer. “We all know what we see, taste and experience in terms of the water system.”

In April, the Navy released a 434-page technical memorandum concluding that the elevated levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) found in its samples from July to December 2023 were actually caused by laboratory contamination.

“It didn’t make sense,” Lacey Quintero, a soldier’s wife and veteran, told the panel on Monday, as families who relied on the water system continued to report skin burns, foul odors, migraines and other ailments during that time.

“The swarm team’s report was dismissive at best,” Quintero said, referring to a team of military personnel formed earlier this year to investigate residents’ ongoing reports of water and health problems.

“It just explained what they wanted to believe to be true,” she said.

Navy officials did not respond to a request for comment on the BWS advisers’ conclusions Tuesday. It is not clear whether Navy officials attended the BWS meeting on Monday or followed it online.

Further third-party testing required

BWS members, including Kapua Sproat, said the problems with the Navy’s previous drinking water tests showed how important it was that outside parties also participate in these tests to ensure the accuracy of the results.

In April, the Navy began a one-year extension of its drinking water testing around Pearl Harbor. Amy Miller, director of the EPA’s Division of Enforcement and Compliance in Region 9, said Tuesday the federal agency is taking several steps to ensure the results of the extended testing period are reliable.

“This is an ongoing problem and a concern for the EPA,” Miller said of the Navy’s post-Red Hill water testing.

A major error in the Navy’s approach was that it failed to remove residual chlorine from its drinking water samples as part of the process, Winkler told BWS. Miller confirmed on Tuesday that the chlorine removal should have taken place.

The EPA conducted its own tests of the water supply in June and should release a report on the results in about a month, Miller said. The EPA will also collect “split” samples from the Navy, test them separately and then compare the results with the Navy’s findings, she said.

The EPA also plans to eventually conduct a spot check of the Navy to see if it is properly testing drinking water during this extended period, Miller added.

Meanwhile, BWS remains concerned that contaminants from the Red Hill fuel leaks could ultimately reach the public system that supplies most of the island via Oahu’s porous underground aquifer.

That’s why the water authority has hired consultants to analyze the Navy’s test results on this separate system, Anthony said Monday. BWS, he said, wants to be prepared for a similar scenario.

Residents affected by the fuel leak said Monday they were grateful that BWS continues to closely monitor the situation.

“Without you at our side, we would not have the answers we have today to move forward,” Simic said.