20,000 Pallets Of Water Bottles Were Left In Puerto Rico, And No One Seems To Know Why

Doha Madani

An estimated 20,000 pallets of water bottles have apparently just been sitting on a tarmac in Puerto Rico since after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, and no government agency has been able to answer why.

Abdiel Santana, who works for a Puerto Rico Police agency, posted photos of the pallets on a runway in Ceiba on Tuesday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency told CBS News on Wednesday that FEMA delivered the bottled water to the island but said the agency didn’t track specific shipments.

Ottmar Chávez, the administrator of General Services in Puerto Rico (ASG), told HuffPost in a news release that it requested 20,000 pallets of water bottles in May from FEMA, which had reported it had a surplus of emergency supplies. The ASG then distributed some of the water to a dozen municipalities, but the water had apparently gone bad after sitting too long in the sun and heat.

“After having delivered more than 700 pallets, ASG received several complaints about the smell and taste of the water received from FEMA,” Chávez stated in the press release.

Chávez said in his statement that the agency had “been in contact with FEMA and the Department of Health to test the water inventory received by the federal agency. We are going to return those waters to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) inventory.”

The GSA told HuffPost it did not order or obtain the water for FEMA during the Hurricane Maria aid efforts. Angelo Cruz Ramos, the mayor of Ceiba, told ABC News he wasn’t sure when the pallets of water bottles actually arrived on that tarmac.

The island’s Secretary of the Department of Public Security, Héctor M.
Pesquera, said in a statement that “the Government of Puerto Rico never received the water from FEMA for distribution during the emergency, and it was not until April 2018 that we were notified of its availability.”

None of the agencies seemed to have an answer for how long the water had been sitting on the tarmac and why it had not been distributed.

A senior FEMA official told CBS that if FEMA “put that water on that runway, there will be hell to pay .... If we did that, we’re going to ’fess up to it.”

FEMA did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

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A woman reacts while looking at the damage to her house after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Guayama, Puerto Rico. 
Toys are seen in a damaged house  in Guayama. 
Toys are seen in a damaged house  in Guayama. 
Lightposts lay on the ground after being damaged in San Juan. 
Lightposts lay on the ground after being damaged in San Juan. 
Fishing boats with severe damage at Club Nautico in the San Juan Bay. 
Fishing boats with severe damage at Club Nautico in the San Juan Bay. 
A damaged supermarket in Guayama. 
A damaged supermarket in Guayama. 
 A mattress, that fell from the third floor lays at ground level surrounded with debris from neighboring apartments at Ciudadela complex in Santurce. 
 A mattress, that fell from the third floor lays at ground level surrounded with debris from neighboring apartments at Ciudadela complex in Santurce. 
A man runs on the street next to debris and damaged in Guayama. 
A man runs on the street next to debris and damaged in Guayama. 
A woman reacts while she looks at the damages in the house of her mother in Guayama.
A woman reacts while she looks at the damages in the house of her mother in Guayama.
A damaged banana plantation in Guayama. 
A damaged banana plantation in Guayama. 
A car is viewed stuck in a flooded street in Santurce, in San Juan. 
A car is viewed stuck in a flooded street in Santurce, in San Juan. 
A gas station is damaged in San Juan. 
A gas station is damaged in San Juan. 
Trees block the streets at Escambron Beach in San Juan. 
Trees block the streets at Escambron Beach in San Juan. 
An uprooted tree in San Juan. 
An uprooted tree in San Juan. 
Residents of San Juan, Puerto Rico, deal with damage to their homes on Sept. 20, 2017, as Hurricane Maria batters the island.
Residents of San Juan, Puerto Rico, deal with damage to their homes on Sept. 20, 2017, as Hurricane Maria batters the island.
Damage is seen in Guayama, Puerto Rico. 
Damage is seen in Guayama, Puerto Rico. 
Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, cutting power on most of the U.S. territory as residents hunkered down in the face of the island's worst storm in living memory.
Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, cutting power on most of the U.S. territory as residents hunkered down in the face of the island's worst storm in living memory.
Rescue workers help people after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria.
Rescue workers help people after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.