Iroquois Point added to Army’s affected areas list, civilians left with no answers or assistance

EWA BEACH, Hawaii (KHON2) — Several residents at Kapilina Beach Homes, located in Iroquois Point, complained of negative reactions after using the water two weeks ago.

Two members of the same home had to go to the hospital after breaking out into rashes and having other reactions after showering.

On Thursday, December 9, the Hawaii Department of Health and the Navy took samples from several homes at Kapilina Beach Homes.

No update was given until the U.S. Army added Iroquois Point to their list of impacted areas. In a Facebook post on the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii website an update wrote: “As of December 11, 2021, the U.S. Army Pacific Commanding General has added Iroquois Point to the list of impacted areas. Army personnel and their authorized dependents are authorized full entitlements under the evacuation authorization.”

The Navy and the state health department did not say if the test results were received.

An e-mail sent out by Kapilina Beach Homes to residents on Sunday, Dec. 12, read:

“We’ve been made aware of the update the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii issued to include Iroquois Point in their impacted areas so that our community can receive resources. We are working directly with U.S. Army officials to get details out to All residents, military, and civilian alike, as soon as possible. Please stay tuned.”

But civilians and veterans said they’ve been left to figure out everything on their own.

Chris Anton and her three kids live at Kapilina. They don’t qualify for additional resources because she isn’t an active duty dependent.

Her 15-year-old and 17-year-old were perfectly healthy weeks ago, were active, and played sports. Now, one of her healthy children can barely walk due to accidental petroleum poisoning.

She said on Dec. 4 she reported she had a fuel health-related issue on December 3, and she reported it to DOH, EOC Navy, and Kapilina Beach Homes.

According to Anton, she took a shower Friday, Dec 3, and was covered in oil, and that her water did not smell while she was showering. She had to re-clean with a bottle of water leaning over her sink.

She said she was dehydrated, had a dry mouth, and a headache. Her eyes were burning. She had diarrhea, and she felt fatigued. She said her bathroom reeked of fuel and had a chemical smell roughly 20 minutes after her shower.

Her 17-year-old son took a shower Friday morning and reported bowel issues.

Anton said her pets got sick from the water bowl using filtered water.

The following morning, Saturday, Dec. 4, all of her faucets smelled of fuel.

She said she avoided the water for a week and ended up in the emergency room with her 15-year-old daughter on Friday, Dec. 10.

Her daughter, 15, could not walk and was in extreme pain from leg twitching and cramping. Anton said the pain extended into her hips and ribs and had to be carried by her older brother from room to room.

The doctor diagnosed both Anton and her daughter with accidental petroleum poisoning due to hydrocarbon toxicity and told them to leave the home and if they couldn’t, to wear n95 masks inside the home; cover the faucets, open windows, and do not use the water.

Anton said she didn’t use the water since Dec. 3. She said the doctor told her the headaches, breathing difficulty, itchy skin, irritability, brain fog, dry cotton mouth, could be from a chemical burn or exposure to fuel ingested and breathing fumes.

She wrote on Facebook: “My home is poisonous, the Navy is my water supplier, I live in old Navy housing, my water bill is on my monthly rent from private Kapilina, and they pay the Navy. Whenever we had water issues in the past only Navy NAVAC came to fix it or referred us to their Facebook site for updates during the repair. We need basic needs met. Then we need to get deposits back to move to a new place. We need lodging, water, and showers. None of this is okay. Poison people with an oil leak and then make them fend for themselves.”

Anton said she’s received zero assistance from the military, Navy, state, or Kapilina Beach Homes.

She shared a video of her five-year-old daughter crying on Saturday, Dec. 11, after using cold water bottles as a shower, and said that all she wanted for Christmas was clean water, and a new home.

On Thursday, Dec. 9, KHON2 interviewed 17-year-old Jayden Bonilla who had a severe reaction after showering at his home at Kapilina Beach Homes two weeks before. He hasn’t used the water since but was surprised that his uncle, who lives with him and is a veteran, was denied a new place to stay.

“We’re told we can’t have housing, just stay there, find your own because only active duty gets hotels, and houses,” Bonilla said when they asked the Army where they should go if their homes are under the affected water area too.

The state health department has told people at Kapilina Beach Homes not to use the water.

The test results from the Navy and the health department have not yet been released.

State senator Kurt Fevella (R) Ewa Beach, Iroquois Point, Ewa Villages, said it’s wrong to only take care of some families in an affected area.

“I feel helpless, he said crying. “I cannot help these families, it’s so frustrating getting calls at 5 a.m. asking me ‘What are we going to do? What are we going to do? My son is sick, my daughter is throwing up. It’s hard for me to sleep.”

Sen. Fevella pleaded to Governor David Ige to issue an emergency declaration, calling the situation an emergency, not a crisis.

Governor Ige’s office said in an e-mail:

“The decision regarding the declaration of a federal emergency rests with the federal government, which has preeminent responsibility and authority over this system, which is owned and operated by the US Navy. 

We have been waiting for word from the AG’s office on what (if anything) a state emergency proclamation might accomplish in this situation since this falls under federal jurisdiction.”

The U.S. Army said in an e-mail they had issued an emergency evacuation authorization. The authorization is not an evacuation order, and the authorization provides Army personnel and their families access to full financial entitlements as outlined in the authorization. Out of an abundance of caution, the U.S. Army recommends Army personnel do not use the water in their homes in the impacted areas.

The U.S. Army confirmed the area includes Kapilina Beach Homes, and authorization provides entitlements to soldiers, DA civilians, and their families.

The Army said civilians should contact the City and County of Honolulu for further assistance.