Nearly 630 of the plaintiffs affected by Navy water contamination in Central O驶ahu will receive a combined payment of $17 million in the latest batch of Red Hill court settlements announced by the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday.
DOJ leaders touted the move as a good-faith step toward resolving the matter, in which scores of military personnel, their families and civilian workers were sickened by tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel spilled in 2021. Some victims, however, called the deals 鈥渁 slap in the face鈥� that don鈥檛 go nearly far enough to compensate all the damage done.
The settlements apply to family members who were sickened 鈥� not the service members themselves 鈥� and they stem from two lawsuits brought against the Navy in recent years over Red Hill contamination under the Federal Tort Claims Act, or FTCA.
Together, those suits 鈥� Feindt v. United States and Hughes v. United States 鈥� represent more than 6,500 claims.
Some 3,600 Red Hill plaintiffs in those suits have now reached settlements with the federal government over their health ordeals, according to the DOJ, out of more than 6,500 claims.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate called the latest settlements a 鈥渏ust and fair resolution.鈥�
鈥淲e look forward to paying additional claims once they鈥檙e approved,鈥� he said in a statement Wednesday.
Kristina Baehr, the plaintiffs鈥� attorney, said the roughly $27,000 awarded to each of the 629 plaintiffs who took the deal fell far short of the minimum amount laid out in an order by U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi. Kobayashi鈥檚 order, according to Baehr, called for the federal government to pay between $38,500 and $76,000.
Army Maj. Mandy Feindt, whose husband, Patrick, was the lead plaintiff in one of the lawsuits, said $27,000 wouldn鈥檛 come close to covering the health damages, property loss and other ordeals that families faced in the wake of the Red Hill spills that year.
鈥淚 know that to some people it seems like a lot, but for our family alone, we鈥檝e been to over 800 medical appointments,鈥� said Feindt, whose family now lives in Virginia.
Feindt鈥檚 8-year-old daughter still suffers from neurological issues, she said, and her son, now 6 years old, suffered permanent lung damage after the Navy鈥檚 water supply was contaminated.
鈥淢any of us spent thousands of dollars in getting medical care for our families and moving,鈥� Feindt said. 鈥淥ur family alone has done , and we鈥檒l never recover all of that money. We lost everything.鈥�
Prior legal maneuverings by the government, , helped limit the criteria that could be considered in issuing the awards and determining settlements. The plaintiffs鈥� awards will further be reduced by attorneys鈥� fees, which can take up to a 25% bite out of the total, and related expenses.
Feindt said her family accepted a $37,500 settlement as part of the tort case, but they refused the $15,000 settlement for her daughter and $5,000 for her son and continue to contest the matter in court on their behalf.
鈥淥ur case basically sort of set the precedent, which is why we rejected the kids鈥� payout,鈥� she said Wednesday. 鈥淲e鈥檙e bearing a lot of weight on our shoulders, because what we accept paves the way for those thousands of other people that come behind us.鈥�
Baehr said the government in the past two weeks did approve two new settlements within the monetary range called for in Kobayashi鈥檚 ruling: one at $45,000 and another at $55,000. She said she hoped that would set a precedent for the remaining cases to receive higher awards.
The DOJ鈥檚 Civil Division said in a statement it is continuing to process more settlements as it works to get more of those deals approved.
Meanwhile, the legal fight over whether Feindt and other service members should be compensated for the water contamination continues to play out in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The federal government, according to Baehr, has argued that service personnel shouldn鈥檛 be compensated because their exposure to the contamination was 鈥渋ncident to military service.鈥�
That stance further upsets Feindt, who took issue Wednesday with Shumate鈥檚 statement that the DOJ is committed to 鈥渆nsuring justice for our nation鈥檚 heroes who repeatedly risk greatly to safeguard our freedoms.鈥�
鈥淔or those of us who have risked our lives in this country it鈥檚 pretty significant to have our families, especially those with small children, poisoned,鈥� Feindt said.
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