US ordered to pay $600K to families sickened in Pearl Harbor fuel spill.
A federal judge in Hawaii ordered the U.S. government on Wednesday to pay about $600,000 to six families impacted by a 2021 fuel spill that tainted drinking water at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam near Honolulu after finding that the tainted water was the cause of their health problems.
U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi’s order came after she heard evidence during a 10-day bench trial that began in April 2024 over the families’ claims they suffered from nausea, rashes, emotional trauma and in some cases seizures and tremors after they showered in and drank the tainted water.
The trial, which involved claims of 17 people from six different families, was the first trial in the Red Hill litigation. The government and attorneys for the victims have agreed to use the judge’s order to help determine the future of the more than 7,000 remaining claims.
“By a preponderance of the evidence, the court finds and concludes that [the] defendant is liable under the [Federal Tort Claims Act] and with the application of Hawaii law,” Kobayashi wrote in her opinion issued Wednesday.
