After a 2021 U.S. Navy jet fuel leak contaminated their drinking water — causing health problems, significant distress, and potentially long-term harm — families in Hawai'i took the U.S. government to court in what could be a precedent-setting trial, the Guardian reported.
What's happening?
In November 2021, NPR reported that Hawai'i "ordered the U.S. Navy to halt operations … after a petroleum leak was found to have contaminated Honolulu's drinking water supply." The leak occurred at a storage facility that had recently been fined for ignoring critical maintenance regulations, according to Hawai'i Public Radio.
The affected families, both military and civilian residents, felt the Navy's response was haphazard and largely ineffective. A written court submission from a military spouse, Nastasia Freeman, quoted in another NPR story, detailed the effects of the polluted water: "I had developed a rash on my arms with sores and lesions on my scalp, feet, and hands accompanied by a headache. I had a very strange sensation that I had never had before — I felt like my blood was on fire."
At first, Freeman's family thought they had food poisoning from Thanksgiving dinner. The Navy "[waited] several days to advise the public" on the crisis, per the Guardian.
"It felt like we were being gaslit," declared Freeman, per NPR.
The government's defense was that though the leak "caused a nuisance … it was not large enough and too short-lived to have caused long-lasting health problems," according to court documents via the Guardian.
Why is clean water so important?
Flavored beverages may be trendy, but petroleum-infused water? Never OK.
After the Hawai'i spill, children, adults, and household pets (even Freeman's dogs were vomiting, said NPR) became sick with myriad ailments, including vomiting, diarrhea, and rashes. People also developed "ongoing health problems," from asthma to seizures, NPR added.
Instances of water pollution (and delayed or nonexistent communication for those imbibing these toxic substances) are frighteningly widespread. Cancer-causing chemicals, poisonous lead, and life-threatening arsenic have all been reported on in American drinking water just this year, according to Environmental Health News and USA Today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that annually "waterborne pathogens cause an estimated 7.15 million illnesses, 6,630 deaths … resulting in $3.33 billion in direct health care costs." Contaminated water seeps into multiple sectors: It can damage agriculture, food supply, tourism, property values, small business revenue, and more.
What can we do for cleaner water?
As the families in Hawai'i fight for justice, efforts to avert another disaster abound. Up-to-date water safety standards, government policies banning harmful pollutants, local cleanup projects, plastic alternatives, and innovative purification methods are all critical to protecting natural resources, preventing water scarcity, and ensuring healthy hydration.
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