a monday email from the commander of joint base pearl harborhickam that told residents the navy was testing water samples but it had no immediate indication the water wasnt safe his email said he and his staff were drinking the water all they had to do was say we see that theres a problem we dont know what it is and were going to do whatever it takes to find out and fix it thats all they had to do and instead we got nope looks good smells fine bye burness said navy region hawaii which oversees all navy installations in the state said the commanders email was sent when numbers of concerns were still very low since then the navy has aggressively increased sampling testing communication to families and others impacted as well as started response teams of experts to address the issues we all are facing the command said in a statement on thursday the army which houses some hawaiibased soldiers in the pearl harbor area with navy water said families could go to a community center for help moving to a hotel or a new home or to talk to a health care professional the nov 22 tunnel leak was only the latest involving the red hill fuel storage facility a complex of 20 underground fuel tanks built during world war ii environmentalists and honolulus municipal water utility have expressed concerns about these aging tanks since the navy disclosed one of them leaked 27000 gallons 102 kiloliters in 2014 the tanks sit 100 feet 30 meters above an aquifer that supplies about a quarter of the water consumed in honolulu prompting concerns that leaks could contaminate one of the citys most crucial water sources burness said her experience has shaken her confidence in the military during her decades as a military spouse shes always believed in doing whatever it takes to support the mission this has destroyed all of that she said i have zero confidence at this point and i think this has shown that they cannot be trusted with anything