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Petroleum products detected in Hawaii well water after residents near Pearl Harbor complained of fuel odors, Navy says

BY SOPHIE REARDON DECEMBER 3, 2021 / 5:21 PM / CBS NEWS After days of testing, the U.S. Navy has confirmed the existence of petroleum products in a well water sample taken near Hawaii's Pearl Harbor military base. The well, which is connected to the Navy's water system, has been closed since Sunday while officials investigated reports of tap water smelling like fuel. According to a Friday statementfrom the Navy, it collected 14 water samples from different parts of the water system on Monday. Thirteen tests came back negative, but one sample from the Navy's Red Hill well came back positive for petroleum hydrocarbons, which the EPA describes as "a large family of several hundred chemical compounds that are derived from crude oil." A separate test also confirmed petroleum hydrocarbon vapors. Hawaii's Department of Health saidon Wednesday that a sample from Red Hill Elementary School, which was collected Tuesday, came back positive for a petroleum product in a preliminary test result. The samples were then sent to Eurofins Scientific in California for further analysis. It is not clear whether this sample was the one that the Navy confirmed was positive on Friday. "Now with multiple indications that the source has been identified and isolated, the Navy is developing a plan to restore the potable water system to EPA standards, identify how this contaminant got in the well, and fix the well," the Navy said Friday. It added that it will work with the state's department of health to update guidance for local residents and service members.