A Navy contractor collects water samples Jan. 31, 2024, as part of the Navy’s long-term monitoring program at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. (Krystal Diaz/U.S. Navy)
The U.S. government is urging a judge to award only a fraction of the $7 million sought by 17 plaintiffs seeking compensation for a 2021 Navy fuel spill in Hawaii that contaminated their drinking water.
“The United States recognizes that the [plaintiffs] experienced stress, anxiety, and worry in the days after they learned about the November 2021 fuel spill, and these harms entitle them to compensatory damages,” Justice Department attorneys said in a post-trial defense brief filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.
The millions of dollars in compensation the plaintiffs propose, however, “miss the mark” because many of the physical and psychological injuries claimed by them were not caused by the spill or predated it, the defense brief states.
About 7,500 individuals have joined several federal lawsuits claiming medical, emotional and financial injury from the jet fuel contamination, which originated with a spill in November 2021 at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility a few miles from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
The fuel seeped into one of three wells used by the Navy in its water distribution system for thousands of households on and near the joint base.
Two years after the initial contamination, the cases of 17 “bellwether” plaintiffs were heard last month during a two-week trial in Hawaii federal court. U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi heard the case without a jury.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys filed a post-trial brief June 6 and may file a rebuttal brief before July 12.
Kobayashi said she will issue a decision in subsequent weeks.
The dueling briefs restate the arguments over cause and compensation that both sides made during the trial.
The government admitted responsibility for the water contamination but contends it could not have caused the host of medical conditions alleged by the plaintiffs.
“The trial record and applicable law do not support the Bellwether Plaintiffs’ position that everyone -- regardless of location, duration of exposure, preexisting conditions, or other traumas -- received the same dose, suffered physical injuries, and has long-lasting psychological harm from the November 2021 spill,” the defense brief states.
The plaintiffs failed to prove “required causation factors,” assuming instead that “because a biological injury occurred after a spill, it must have been caused by the spill,” the defense brief states.
The brief proposes compensation for the 17 plaintiffs in ranges that total from $108,828 to $458,792, adding that the thousands of pending cases should employ the same framework.
“This framework better reflects the injuries caused by the November 2021 spill, the differences amongst the Bellwether Plaintiffs, the alternative causes of their alleged physical and psychological symptoms, and awards in comparable cases,” the defense brief states.
By contrast, the plaintiffs’ post-trial brief proposes compensation for each individual ranging from $225,000 to $1.28 million, for a total just over $6.85 million.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers base their compensation claim on factors such as pain and suffering, impairment, mental anguish, life disruption, lost wages and therapy.
The brief argues the plaintiffs were harmed by the Navy’s mishandling of the contamination crisis.
“In November 2021, the Navy knew that its water system was interconnected and that its own policies required that the Navy disclose the fuel release and issue an immediate warning to all users of the water system to prevent harm,” the brief states.
“Instead, the Navy chose to issue guidance by neighborhood – waiting until people reported odor, sheen, and medical complaints from a given area. That decision was contrary to science and policy.”
