Capt. Robert Kleinman, right, of the Navy Closure Task Force-Red Hill speaks with members of the Hawaii Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency during an inspection of pipe removal operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Honolulu on May 13, 2026. (Glenn Slaughter/U.S. Navy)
The U.S. Department of Justice this week paid approximately $17 million to hundreds of people affected by the U.S. Navy’s 2021 jet fuel spill in Hawaii, but plaintiffs’ attorneys say thousands of claims remain unresolved.
The DOJ made payments Monday to 629 plaintiffs, following approval of a settlement May 19 by the U.S. District Court in Hawaii, according to a DOJ news release Wednesday.
The settlements stem from two lawsuits following the 2021 JP-5 jet fuel spill at the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Honolulu that contaminated groundwater used by thousands of military personnel and civilians on and near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
More than 93,000 people were affected by the spill, with thousands forced to temporarily relocate. Residents at the time complained about headaches, nausea and fatigue, and some say health problems continue to this day.
Approximately 7,000 individuals claimed injury due to the tainted water, according to the most recent amended complaint filed in August.
The federal government has thus far settled with about 3,600 civilians who filed claims connected with the spill, the DOJ said Wednesday.
The first 17 “bellwether” plaintiffs went to trial in 2024; U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi in May 2025 awarded them amounts between $37,500 and $80,000 in those cases.
“This Justice Department is proud to announce the fair and efficient resolution of claims relating to the Red Hill jet fuel spills,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in the release. “These latest settlements show that we strive to handle all potential settlements justly, and according to the public interest, without exception.”
Approximately 3,000 civilians’ and 1,000 service members’ cases remain unresolved or unpaid, plaintiffs’ attorney Kristina Baehr, of the Texas-based Just Well Law PLLC, said by email Wednesday.
The settlements so far are a “step in the right direction,” but the average $27,000-per-person payment is well below court-ordered damages in the bellwether cases, she said by phone Thursday,
“They’re legally allowed to do that, but they can’t start paying out those payments that are so much less than the judge’s order and then claim that they’re taking care of America’s heroes,” she said.
Separately, the federal government has refused to compensate service members after arguing that exposure to contaminated water was “incident to military service,” Baehr said in a separate email Thursday.
Just Law appealed that issue to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Baehr plans to ask whether “bathing yourself and your babies at home is an act that is ‘incident to military service,’” she said.
“Until every affected family is treated fairly, until injured service members have their day in court, and until the full consequences of Red Hill are acknowledged, this matter is not over,” Baehr said.
Several studies have found tentative links between the Red Hill contamination and longer-term conditions, including a University of Hawaii survey that found 80% of those surveyed reported new or worsening physical and mental health symptoms after the spill.
A Defense Department study released in 2025 found individuals exposed to the tainted water were more likely to experience new migraines and esophageal inflammation than those who lived nearby but were not exposed.
