US EditionHawaii families win lawsuit over Red Hill fuel-contaminated water
- In May 2021, a pipe burst at a large underground fuel storage site in Hawaii, releasing over 20,000 gallons of jet fuel into a drinking water supply.
- A damaged pipe leaked fuel into a sagging fire suppression line, and the spill went undetected for half a year until it was disturbed by a cart, causing fuel to enter a well that provided water to 90,000 people near Pearl Harbor.
- Military families reported health issues such as vomiting, skin peeling, and seizures shortly after the spill, while the Navy failed to notify authorities promptly or test water safety despite multiple emergency opportunities.
- U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi awarded over $680,000 to 17 bellwether families in a Honolulu federal trial, though the amounts were smaller than plaintiffs’ requested figures ranging up to $1.25 million.
- The ruling acknowledged possible health impacts but found insufficient evidence for a direct causal link, while thousands of related cases remain pending and legal options are being reviewed.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Damages are awarded in first Red Hill lawsuit
Hawaii’s U.S. District Court has awarded damages to 17 people affected by the November 2021 Red Hill water crisis. In a long-awaited preliminary decision dated Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi ordered the government to pay $682,258 to the plaintiffs to compensate them for damages and, in the case of some clients, for future medical care related to exposure to jet fuel that tainted the Navy’s Oahu water system, which serves 93,000…
Professor earns grant to study critical threat to water safety: 'We don't have a ton of evidence compiled yet'
Geoscience professor Nan Crystal Arens says the "many ways that microplastics might be harmful to humans" hasn't been studied sufficiently — and she secured a $358,976 grant from the National Science Foundation to spend three years investigating the issue with a team of undergraduates in New York, according to the Finger Lakes Times. What's happening? Concerns about microplastics, defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as…
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