Holy Family Catholic Academy water give and take donation station. (Photo courtesy of Holy Family Catholic Academy)
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
A Honolulu Catholic school and many of its families have been affected by a recent petroleum contamination of a well supplying them with water.
Holy Family Catholic Academy, which is near the Honolulu International Airport and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, receives its water from a well fed by the Red Hill aquifer, which tests have shown has been polluted by petroleum. Forty percent of the student body comes from military families and about 100 of them live in housing that gets water from the same tainted well.
While Holy Family is a parochial Catholic school, it’s on land that was originally owned by the military before the Diocese of Honolulu purchased the property in 2014. That means that its water supply still comes by the Navy-operated well.
School principal Celeste Akiu was listening to the radio as she drove into work Monday, Nov. 29, as reported gas smells and related issues were hitting the local news. She called in to the school office and asked someone to check if the water smelled like gas. It did.
Soon afterward, Akiu decided to suspend school for the day and switch to distance learning — something that’s now well-established thanks to COVID-19 — for the Nov. 30 school day. That allowed Holy Family to figure out a way to operate with no clean running water.
“As [Hawaii Catholic Schools superintendent] Dr. Young always says, we don’t take any unnecessary risks when the kids are involved,” Akiu said.
School went back into session on campus on Dec. 1. About 15 students have continued virtual learning, which Holy Family is offering during the water issue.
The school is making do with hand sanitizer in the bathrooms and has taped off all sinks so they aren’t accidentally used. Akiu says staff is trying to figure out a way to set up hand washing stations with brought-in water as well. The cafeteria had to shut down with no potable water supply. Students are bringing home lunches and water bottles.
Holy Family has started a bottled water drive from which any school family affected by the contamination can take water. Faculty and staff have also been filling up sports water jugs at their homes outside of the affected area and bringing those to school.
Holy Family Catholic Academy student helps with water delivery. (Photo courtesy of Holy Family Catholic Academy)
Akiu hopes to get a small water tank from the Navy and the Diocese of Honolulu’s facilities office is helping the school rent a water tank.
In addition, a paper goods drive to donate disposable cups, utensils and plates to families affected by the water issue — and who can’t wash their dishes, take showers, or drink the tap water — has started. Akiu said any family is welcome to take the paper goods to share with other non-Holy Family Academy households.
“It’s not just for Holy Family, it’s, ‘If your neighbor needs paper plates, take home a pack,’” Akiu said. “We’re all in this together.”
She said that she’s hoping to set up an “Adopt A Family” type of program where school families living outside of the contaminated water zone can offer showers and laundry to families that are affected.
“I do want to acknowledge our parents and how the Holy Family community just really pulled together,” Akiu said. “And if anything, we’ve learned how to pivot, and we’re continuing to do so not just for us, but for the whole community we’re a part of.”
On Dec. 3, Akiu met with Navy leadership on Holy Family’s campus and received a donation of water and reassurance of the Navy’s support.
Moanalua Terrace, Halsey Terrace, Doris Miller Park, Catlin Park, Radford Terrace, the Hickam community and Aliamanu Military Reservation, as well as several public schools in the area all receive water from the tainted well.
The Navy’s Red Hill Underground Fuel Facility had a 14,000-gallon water and fuel leak beginning on Nov. 20. This followed a previous spill in May and a long history of issues with the facility. Around Thanksgiving, families living on and near military facilities supplied with water sourced from the Red Hill well started complaining of the smell and taste of gas in their homes’ water lines and health issues for pets and people who had drunk the water.
If you’d like to donate paper goods (cups, plates and utensils) and bottled water to Holy Family Catholic Academy, you can email Akiu at cakiu@hfcahawaii.org or call the school office at (808) 423-9611.
