Drinking Water System Compliance at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam

    

Drinking Water Compliance

News Release: EPA Concludes Drinking Water Has Been Free of Fuel Contamination Since 2022, in Wake of Red Hill Release

EPA Fact Sheet: Drinking Water System Compliance at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (pdf) (1.28 MB, July 2025)
EPA fact sheet providing an overview of EPA's oversight and the current status of the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and the Aliamanu Military Reservation public water systems.

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Background

Most drinking water in Oʻahu is provided to consumers by public water providers, also known as public water systems (PWSs). As directed by the Safe Drinking Water Act, drinking water is tested at least annually by PWSs for a wide variety of regulated contaminants.

More information on drinking water safety and testing can be found on the EPA’s Groundwater and Drinking Water website and the Hawai'i Department of Health’s Safe Drinking Water Branch website.

Citizens connected to municipal water supplies in the area around Red Hill receive their drinking water from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) PWS or the Aliamanu Military Reservation (AMR) PWS. The AMR PWS is a consecutive system to the JBPHH PWS, meaning that it receives all of its finished water from the JBPHH PWS, and as such, these two systems are commonly referred to as a single PWS. All drinking water supplies in the vicinity of Red Hill continue to meet all federal drinking water standards.

Annual Water Quality Reports can be found at the Honolulu Board of Water Supply website, the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Water Quality Information website, or the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii’s Safe Drinking Water Act Program website.

November 2021 Drinking Water Incident

In late November 2021, hundreds of families, living on the Navy’s JBPHH and the Army's AMR, reported fuel odors coming from residential tap water supplied by the JBPHH PWS. Residents also reported health issues arising from the contaminated drinking water. Approximately 93,000 consumers were impacted, many of whom relocated to temporary housing during the drinking water crisis.

The source of the fuel was from the nearby Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which contaminated the Red Hill Shaft, one of the Navy's groundwater sources for the JBPHH PWS.

EPA Assessment of the Drinking Water Systems
Drinking Water Split Sample Results

Drinking Water Split Sample Results

Map view of the Red Hill Split Sample Results Application

EPA’s drinking water split sample results from April 2024 – March 2025 can be accessed through our dashboard.

EPA coordinated with the Navy, the Army and the Hawai’i Department of Health (DOH) by forming an Interagency Drinking Water System Team (IDWST) to restore safe drinking water to the affected water consumers in the PWS service areas, including residents and workers. The IDWST, which launched in December 2021, completed the drinking water restoration in March 2022 when DOH amended their Unsafe Water Advisory (UWA) to allow for unrestricted drinking water use throughout the PWS service areas.

Between March 2022 and April 2025, EPA has worked with the Navy and DOH to thoroughly assess and monitor water quality within the JBPHH and AMR PWSs. In June 2023, EPA signed an Administrative Consent Order with Navy to improve both the infrastructure and operations at the JBPHH and AMR PWSs, and to oversee the safe defueling and closure of Red Hill.

In March 2026, EPA issued a final report on the assessment of the JBPHH and AMR PWSs, concluding that there is no evidence of residual fuel, or other fuel-related contaminants remaining in the JBPHH and AMR PWSs following the November 2021 fuel release from Red Hill.

Learn More

About the Drinking Water Report

Throughout the assessment, EPA:

  • Mandated and reviewed robust water sampling performed by the Navy, including a three-year sampling effort at every accessible residence and all priority buildings, including schools, child development centers and medical facilities served by the PWSs.
  • Reviewed data collected by the Navy on Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) and fuel indicator compounds, including lab reports, chromatograms, and analyses to identify sources of TPH detections.
  • Reviewed DOH’s independent investigation of the late 2023 uptrend of low-level TPH detections in Navy data. 
  • Conducted independent analysis of drinking water samples collected from the PWSs.
  • Conducted inspections and investigations of the PWSs and the Navy’s sampling protocols.

EPA supports the PWSs return to routine compliance monitoring under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. EPA continues to work with the Navy, the Army, and DOH to improve infrastructure and operations at the two PWSs and to remediate past releases impacting groundwater resources on Oʻahu.

EPA Investigations and Inspections

April 2022 Investigation

During the week of April 4, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Enforcement Investigations Center (NEIC) conducted public water system inspections at the U.S. Navy’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam (JBPHH) and the U.S. Army’s Aliamanu Military Reservation (AMR) to determine compliance with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and its implementing regulations.

EPA provided its inspection reports to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army on May 27, 2022. The reports found that both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army have failed to adequately operate and maintain their public water systems serving JBPHH and AMR. In response, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army have taken steps to address EPA’s concerns and have submitted documentation of their compliance activities, including photographic documentation and plans for implementation of structural controls to prevent animals from nesting inside the JBPHH’s finished water storage tanks and to remove excessive vegetation from around the tanks. In addition, both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army have submitted plans they will take to address EPA’s findings.

2023 and 2024 Investigations

Starting in late 2023, EPA, the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH), and Navy received an increased number of complaints being reported by residents served by the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam public water system. On October 19, 2023, EPA conducted a complaint investigation and published its findings on December 18, 2023. The report investigates complaints received by EPA and subsequent follow-up from the Navy. The report also articulates areas of concern and recommendations for corrective action by the Navy.

On February 2, 2024, the EPA sent a letter to Navy providing the expectation that the Navy renew their Drinking Water Long-Term Monitoring Plan (LTMP) beyond the current February 2024 expiration date.

In February 2024, EPA was notified of twenty-eight complaints with actionable contact information from residents served by the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam public water system (JBPHH System) and the Aliamanu Military Reservation public water system (AMR System). EPA conducted an investigation from February 14-16, 2024 and published their findings and recommendations on Mach 21, 2024.

EPA is working with the Navy and DOH to develop a LTMP that will be more responsive to complaints by water system users and identify the root cause of these complaints.

June 2024 Inspections

During the week of June 3, 2024, EPA conducted public water system inspections at the U.S. Navy’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam (JBPHH) and the U.S. Army’s Aliamanu Military Reservation (AMR) to determine compliance with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and its implementing regulations. During the inspections, EPA made management, operations, and maintenance observations which are expected to be addressed by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army.

As part of the inspection, EPA also conducted source-water sampling for PFAS at JBPHH’s active drinking water well (the Waiawa Shaft) and two inactive wells (Red Hill Shaft and Aiea-Halawa Shaft). Additionally, EPA sampled for PFAS at AMR’s drinking water distribution system, which receives its drinking water supply from the JBPHH system.

Furthermore, EPA collected drinking water samples for a subset of analytes listed in Navy’s Extended Drinking Water Monitoring Plan from drinking water wells, and various homes and priority buildings in the JBPHH and AMR distribution systems. All EPA sampling results may be found in the inspection reports.

Safe Drinking Water Act Inspection Reports

Below are links to the SDWA inspection reports for both JBPHH and AMR public water systems. EPA has withheld release of some information in the JBPHH and AMR inspection reports that contain personally identifiable information and/or defense critical infrastructure security information.

Other Documents

News Releases

Additional Resources

For the latest updates, news releases, and resources for residents, please visit the U.S. Navy's Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) Water Updates website.

View the latest post system flushing status and drinking water sampling data at the Interagency Drinking Water System Team (IDWST) Flushing and Sampling Data website.

For additional information please visit the U.S. Army and Hawai'i Department of Health websites.

Red Hill

Contact Us About the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility
Contact Us About the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on March 31, 2026