Plan for Navy to filter millions of gallons of water per day from contaminated shaft in Hawaii gets approval

The Hawaii Department of Health has approved a plan for the U.S. Navy to start removing up to five million gallons of treated water each day from a now-closed well on Oahu that is contaminated with petroleum products. The well, which supplies almost 20% of Honolulu's drinking water, was shut down in November following reports from families that the water smelled of fuel was making them sick.

A permit issued by the state health department allows the Navy to extract contaminated water from Red Hill Shaft — a well situated about 100 feet below a fuel storage facility — for treatment to remove any fuel contamination where it will be "closely monitored and tested," according to the Navy. After being sent through a filtration system, the water will then be released into Halawa Stream in Honolulu, the Hawaii Department of Health said. 

"Pumping water from the Red Hill Shaft into the treatment system, then into Halawa Stream is a critical part of the response," the Hawaii Department of Health said in a statement Friday. "It's important to pump contaminated water out of the Red Hill Shaft so that it doesn't migrate to other parts of the groundwater aquifer."