The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it paid a settlement of approximately $17 million to families involved in the Red Hill lawsuit.
The lawsuit dates back to 2021, when thousands of people on the Navy's drinking water system on Oʻahu were affected by jet fuel that leaked from the military's underground fuel storage facility.
Kristina Baehr is an attorney with the firm Just Well Law, which represented around 7,500 clients affected by the jet fuel contamination.
She said that although some have opted to take the settlement, others have remained steadfast in rejecting the government's offer. HPR spoke with Baehr to find out why.
“First, this payment does not include any service members … so the government has issued no payments to service members at all,” Baehr explained.
“Then the payments that it has issued are all below the court's order on damages after the Red Hill trial over a year ago. So the judge issued an order, and the government issued settlement offers that were less than the judge's lowest number on damages, significantly less.”
According to Baehr, service members did not receive settlement payments because the government deemed their use of water as incidental to service.
“These service members were at home bathing their babies, doing private activities, the most intimate family activities. And that was not incident to service, so they should have claims too,” Baehr said.
“So this case is far from over, and it's certainly not time for DOJ to take a victory lap.”
While around 3,000 plaintiffs remain, others elected to take the settlement.
“Plaintiffs understandably want it to be over, and it makes total sense that some took the government's underhanded deal,” Baehr told HPR.
“It also makes sense that half of the people did not, and half the people are going to go forward to enforce the court's order.”
Another thousand active-duty service members are awaiting a decision from the appeals court after a ruling went against them. The next trial for the remaining plaintiffs is set for July 7.
This story aired on The Conversation on June 25, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
