Ships are moored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for the Rim of the Pacific maritime exercise in July 2024. (Corban Lundborg/U.S. Air Force)
About 2,250 gallons of untreated sewage leaked from a broken Navy pipeline into Pearl Harbor on Friday, the Navy said in a news release the next day.
The pipeline ruptured near the piers at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the service said.
The pipeline is primarily used to offload wastewater from ships in port, according to the release. No ships were connected to the pipeline at the time of the leak, the Navy said.
The leak was discovered at about 7 a.m. and stanched about five hours later, according to the release.
The sewage is not recoverable “but will naturally break down in the environment,” it said.
The Navy sent notification of the leak to the Hawaii Department of Health, which has regulatory and enforcement authority over wastewater discharges in the state.
The joint base has undergone occasional leaks in recent years.
In September 2024, about 600 gallons of untreated wastewater from the Navy’s sewer system entered a storm drain at Pearl City Peninsula on Pearl Harbor. A blocked sewer line caused the wastewater to exit a manhole cover and enter a nearby storm drain that empties into the harbor.
A line break on the joint base in December 2023 released an estimated 1,050 gallons of untreated sewage that made its way into a storm drain. About 200 gallons were recovered near the break, the Navy said at that time.
The Hawaii Department of Health has issued numerous “brown water” advisories for beach areas across the state in the past few months as the state has been pummeled by storms and flooding.
Brown stormwater can contain harmful pathogens from overflowing sewage systems, such as cesspools and septic tanks, or pollutants from commercial and industrial facilities.
The Health Department issued five brown water advisories for the state on Monday due to storm-caused flooding on Friday. Three of the advisories were for the island of Oahu.
