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NPL Site Narrative for Waipahu Wells
WAIPAHU WELLS
County of Honolulu, Island of Oahu, Hawaii
Federal Register Notice: October 15, 1984Conditions at proposal (October 15, 1984): The Waipahu Wells Site consists of four drinking water wells that are owned and operated by the City and County of Honolulu. The wells are located on the Ewa Plain in the County of Honolulu, Island of Oahu, Hawaii. They are contaminated with ethylene dibromide (EDB) and trichloropropane (TCP), according to analyses conducted by the Hawaii Department of Health and other government agencies. The Waipahu Wells are part of a distribution system which serves 13,700 people in Waipahu, Ewa, and Waianae. All the wells have been closed.
There are several well sites with similar contamination problems located in the Schofield Plateau/Ewa Plain area of Oahu. The City and County of Honolulu Board of Water Supply has conducted pilot tests on methods for decontaminating the water in the area and has had success in removing TCP with granulated activated carbon and with aeration towers. However, because of continuing contamination, the people served by the Waipahu Wells are being provided with an alternative supply of drinking water.
Status (January 1986): EPA received numerous comments on the six sites in Hawaii, which were the first sites proposed for the NPL on the basis of contamination that appears to originate entirely from the application of pesticides registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA is continuing to evaluate these sites in the context of an overall policy with respect to sites at which contamination results from the application of FIFRA-registered pesticides. Hence, EPA is continuing to propose the sites for the NPL.
The Board of Water Supply is building a carbon treatment plant at the Waipahu well field. The treatment plant will be designed to remove the pesticides from the water prior to distribution.
Status (February 11, 1991): The treatment plant has been operating since July 1987.
EPA has decided not to place this site on the NPL at this time because it is in the process of developing a general strategy for addressing contamination from agricultural chemicals in ground water under FIFRA.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.