HONOLULU (CN) — Families gave tearful accounts on the second day of a trial over jet-fuel contaminated water at an Oahu Navy base, saying the leak left illness and lingering fears in its wake.
U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi heard plaintiffs’ continuing testimony Tuesday in Honolulu federal court.
Patrick Feindt, the husband of Major Amanda Feindt who testified Monday , said the water contamination crisis upended his family.
“I’ve never seen my wife so ill. She’s one of the strongest people in the world, to see her that ill — this was violent and it moved through our family,” he said.
In November 2021, a leak from the World War II-era Red Hill underground fuel storage facility contaminated the water supply for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and surrounding areas. The U.S. Navy initially downplayed by the disaster, saying the water was safe to drink. However, many people fell ill and pointed to the contamination as the cause.
As of February 2024, more than 7,500 people had filed lawsuits over water contamination at the Defense Department’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility near Honolulu, Hawaii.
To streamline the massive case, Kobayashi consolidated proceedings and overruled exhibits deemed irrelevant to the "truth of the matter" between each testimony. However, she allowed any evidence pertinent to the plaintiffs’ "emotional distress" claims.Feindt says he and his family endured immense emotional distress. They are suing the U.S. government for damages for medical negligence, pain and suffering, and loss of life expectancy, among other charges according to the class action […]
Military families say Navy compounded Red Hill fuel leak crisis by withholding information
