Four families are suing the Navy over jet fuel leaks that contaminated the water supply in Oahu, Hawaii, marking the first lawsuit against the military to be filed over the leaks.
The families filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, alleging the Navy has not been fully transparent about the extent of the contamination that occurred at the Red Hill fuel storage facility last year or acknowledged the lasting negative health effects. The lawsuit comes after thousands of jet fuel and other contaminants were directly released into the families’ water supply at least twice in 2021.
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“Throughout 2021, as more than 93,000 military service members, their family members, and civilians relied on the government for safe water on the island of O`ahu, the Navy harbored toxic secrets,” the filing said. “[As they] would discover, the water they drank and bathed in was dangerously contaminated. And government officials knew all along. … While the government failed to disclose the contamination as required by federal law, these families continued to ingest and immerse themselves in the toxic water.”
The plaintiffs in the case alleged they were evacuated from their homes when they reported experiencing seizures, gastrointestinal disorders, neurological problems, burns, and other symptoms after drinking from the water supply. They later returned home “only to get sick again,” the lawsuit said. The families have since moved into new homes.
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“As these families became sicker from water, the government compounded the families’ suffering,” the lawsuit said. “First, Navy leadership denied and dismissed their concerns. The families’ questions and concerns were ignored or minimized. Then the Navy denied the families even the most basic standard of care when they turned to military medical providers for help. Military facilities recorded symptoms but failed to run standard labs to check liver function, kidney function, and complete blood count.”
The suit alleged the Navy is guilty of committing negligence, failing to treat reported symptoms, and inflicting emotional distress, among other charges. The Navy did not respond to a request for comment by the Washington Examiner.
