The Justice Department acknowledged that thousands were injured in a Navy fuel leak in Hawaii. A trial against the victims is underway.

The U.S. government said last year in what one lawyer says was a “monumental admission” that it had injured thousands of people on the Hawaiian island of Oahu Kerosene from its storage got into the drinking water network. On Monday, thousands of military families and locals turned out in court to demand financial compensation.

Kristina Baehr, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the case, said her firm did so 7,500 customers are suing because of the leak. Monday's proceedings mark the start of a landmark trial, meaning it is a smaller consolidation of lawsuits from a larger group.

The case dates back to Thanksgiving week in 2021, when nearly 20,000 gallons of jet fuel from the World War II-era Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility spilled into the water system that supplies about $20,000 93,000 people near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Oahu. According to the Navy Closure Task Force – Red Hill, the site contained three types of jet and diesel fuel, including JP-5, F-24 and F-76, as well as aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF).

Military officials denied for days that anything was wrong with the water, according to recorded witness statements and sent memos from that time. By the time the military realized there was petroleum in the water, people had already begun to feel the health effects, many of which are still being felt today – more than 2 1/2 years later.

In May 2023, according to Baehr, the government made “monumental admissions” about the crisis. In addition to admitting liability for negligence at the storage facility, she said the government “admitted that residents suffered injuries at the water main in November 2021.”

In a May 10, 2023, court-filed joint agreement, Justice Department lawyers said “the United States does not dispute” that the 2021 oil spill “posed a nuisance to plaintiffs who owned or rented residences” that were ultimately affected a recommendation from the state Department of Health.

The DOJ also says in the document that it “does not dispute that … the United States breached its fiduciary duty to resident plaintiffs to exercise ordinary care in their operations.” red hill“and that as a result of the “harassment,” plaintiffs “suffered damages compensable under the Federal Tort Claims Act.”

What the Justice Department has not admitted, Baehr said, is the extent of the damage and also that the government failed to warn residents.

While, according to the task force, “the vast majority of fuel and AFFF concentrate has been removed from the facility,” there are still thousands of gallons of residual contaminants in the process of being cleaned and nearly 10 miles of pipeline needing to be REMOVED.

What remains most clear, however, is the impact that the 2021 disaster had on the victims who drank, used and bathed in the contaminated water.

Baehr told CBS News that many of her thousands of customers experienced the same symptoms when the leak began: dizziness, brain fog, disorientation, skin rashes, nausea, vomiting and burning in the esophagus. Years later, many have spent countless hours in hospitals and are still suffering from the effects.

When asked by CBS News if measures were being taken to address the long-term health issues, the task force said the Red Hill clinic continued to provide medical evaluations for those who lived in residential care, worked in facilities or a school they served visited the affected water system from November 20, 2021 through March 18, 2022. These assessments are also available to families currently living in military housing and those experiencing “persistent, worsening, or new symptoms” related to the spill or who currently have concerns about drinking water quality in military family housing served by the water system,” the task force said.

Victims of kerosene exposure say their lives have been 'dramatically changed forever'

Jamie Simic, whose then-husband was a senior Navy diver at the time of the leak, is one of three people specifically named as plaintiffs in the case. Before it was confirmed that the water was contaminated, she said her children refused to brush their teeth.

“My daughter’s teeth fell out of her head. They said we couldn't taste the toothpaste anymore…that they tasted something rotten,” she said, adding that the day military officials confirmed there was something wrong with the water, she had to urinate because of the fumes and wear and tear vomited while she was cooking dinner.

“I went to the fridge to get some ice cream from my freezer and my ice cream was pure yellow and had an oily film on it,” she said. “I put it up to my nose and could smell fuel.”

The smell of fuel lingered on everything that came into contact with water, from dishes to laundry, Simic said. At the military's direction, she and her family went to designated medical tents, but at first they were only given “a piece of paper to write down their symptoms,” she said.

“There was no form. There was no doctor. No blood pressure was measured. There was nothing,” she said.

Her family was then ordered to go to Tripler Medical Center on December 6, where Simic said only she was admitted, although her children also had “significant problems.”

Meanwhile, she says she and her children, aged 11 and 10, have had teething problems, incontinence and throat problems, while she has also struggled with reproductive problems. In an amended statement of claim filed in December 2022, lawyers said her family had to make more than 20 doctor visits and undergo two biopsies and three surgeries. Some procedures her son needed this year “were thwarted because her son was too traumatized to cooperate,” the complaint says.

When CBS News spoke with Simic on Wednesday, she said the number of procedures and visits is now “well over 300 to 400.” During many of these visits, doctors explained that the problems she and her family were experiencing were related to kerosene exposure.

“We have been diagnosed with chronic hydrocarbon toxicity more than once,” she said. “My daughter's problems have only recently been linked to her bowel. 'On environmental impact in Hawaii' is written in their documents.”

And the toll is not only physical in nature, but also an immense financial burden. Simic's grandmother gave the family nearly $40,000 to cover related costs, she said.

“Tomorrow alone I'll probably spend $250 to $300 on travel, with a specialist appointment, the copay, and then the two appointments for my children's primary care doctor.”

Mai Hall, a Hawaii native and wife of a military member, was living in military-provided housing with her husband and two children at the time of the fuel leak. Speaking to CBS News in March 2023, she said her family quickly developed symptoms.

“The next day it became noticeable with headaches, nausea and bloody stools. …The cats vomited. I thought, 'Oh my God, we're going to die,'” she told CBS News. “…We knew something was wrong. It was kind of post-apocalyptic.”

When families first began informing military officials that their water had developed a strange taste and odor, “their concerns were not heard,” Hall said.

“It must have been a week or six to seven days before they said, 'Oh yeah, by the way, there could be fuel leaking into the water,'” she told CBS News. “…And it was just an email. It wasn't even a phone call. There was no knock on the door.”

Records show that on Nov. 28, 2021, Navy drinking water supervisor Joe Nehl said he had received confirmation that there was fuel in the water system and said he had “called for help” and agreed it was obvious that people needed to know about the situation.

However, it was not until Dec. 5 at a community meeting that officials publicly stated that fuel was coming from the water leak. They had previously issued statements saying there was “no indication that water is unsafe.”

A Nov. 30 communications plan from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, obtained by CBS News, shows officials were told: “There appears to be no indication that the water is unsafe” and “We have no word of this.” belonged to the injured.”

“I just have to trust the system,” Hall told CBS News. “And do I trust the system? No, I will not do that.”

The task force told CBS News: “The health and well-being of all Navy drinking water users is a top priority and is at the heart of our mission.”

“We continue our work to ensure the water continues to meet all state and federal requirements for safe drinking water,” the task force said.

Baehr and Simic say that this ordeal, as damaging as it was for those affected, is also a story of resilience and hope.

“All we can get out of the case is financial compensation. But with financial compensation comes responsibility,” Baehr told CBS News. “…These families took on the United States of America and won. And now it’s about compensation.”

“Our lives have already changed drastically forever,” Simic said. “…We are already victorious in getting the Navy to admit the damage. We just need to be victorious in admitting the long-term damage so that families like mine can continue to heal and get well and have the quality of life they once had taken from us.”