Hundreds sue the Navy over water contamination at Hawaii base
Attorney Kristina Baehr and Amanda Feindt, a mother impacted by a fuel leak that contaminated her family's water, join 'Fox & Friends Weekend' to discuss the incident's impact.
Hundreds are suing the federal government after 20,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked into the water on a Hawaii naval base beginning last year, causing debilitating illnesses in families living nearby in an incident some are comparing to Camp Lejeune.
"I couldn't taste it," Amanda Feindt, a mother impacted by the leak, said on Sunday's "Fox & Friends Weekend."
Feindt added that those affected by the spill were never notified about it until other families started to smell and taste the water and begin to experience side effects.
Kristina Baehr, an attorney representing a number of the fuel leakage's victims, told Fox News' Pete Hegseth that the U.S. Navy is only taking partial responsibility for the problem.
FAMILIES SUE US OVER INJURIES ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY JET FUEL LEAKS GETTING INTO HAWAII DRINKING WATER
Contaminated water which allegedly made residents on a Hawaii naval base ill and hospitalized some. (Fox News)
"They admit that it happened, that they contaminated the water, but they don't admit that they made anybody sick," she said.
"They think that nobody is sick today because of the water source," she added.
Hegseth noted the contaminated water was allegedly responsible for seizures, hospitalizations and other debilitating injuries.
FILE - Overhead lights illuminate a tunnel inside the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Jan. 26, 2018. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)
Feindt said, despite the Navy's claims, the fuel leak "absolutely" affected people's health.
"We have been affected in nearly every way possible. Our medical health, certainly… mentally, physically, personally, financially, professionally, and that continues…" she said.
The problem extends beyond getting the Navy to admit the leakage made people sick, according to Feindt, who added that some say finding people who believe them is difficult both on and off base.
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"You've got folks going off base now that are being denied medical care specifically because they're coming in about Red Hill [fuel storage facility]," she told Hegseth.
Baehr said over 700 clients are currently being represented in the case and all are demanding "accountability."