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Thousands of military families and civilians continue to suffer health problems from 2021 fuel leak in Hawaii
In November 2021, 93,000 people living near the U.S. military’s strategic fuel storage facility near Honolulu, Hawaii woke up to find their drinking water contaminated with toxic jet fuel. 27,000 gallons had leaked into the aquifer near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Now more than 2,500 plaintiffs who have dealt with the side effects of ingesting jet fuel joined a lawsuit asking the government for up to $1.25 million each in damages.
The fuel storage facility known as Red Hill was the largest in the Pacific and was built during World War II. The fuel was stored in miles of tunnels up to 20 stories underground to provide as much as 250 million gallons of strategic fuel reserves for the Navy’s Pacific Fleet.
Trial Lawyer Kristina Baehr of Just Well Law is representing the military families and civilians suing the U.S. government for the water contamination at Red Hill.
TRIAL UNDERWAY FOR MILITARY FAMILIES SUING US GOVERNMENT OVER TAINTED WATER AT HAWAII BASE
“The government calls it contamination, and our clients call it poisoning because that’s what happened. The government knew it was contaminated and let them use it,” Baehr said in an interview with Fox News.
Baehr says her clients have a wide range of long term symptoms including Parkinson’s and seizures.
This case is personal for Baehr. After her own family experienced toxic exposure, she decided to leave her job at the Department of Justice to represent families like her own.
Baby Maverick with rashes days after he was born. (Courtesy of Jaclyn Hughes)
“They are coming forward not for themselves, but for everybody else to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We can’t be mission ready as a country if we’re sick or if our people are sick,” Baehr said of the thousands she is representing in the lawsuit.
The case is named for Jaclyn Hughes and her family. Hughes had just given birth to her son, Maverick, at the time of the leak. Just days after he was born, he was covered in red rashes, and Hughes’s own throat immediately began to burn after drinking the water in their home.
Hughes’s husband deployed with the U.S. Navy at the time of the leak. He missed the birth of their son and when he got home to meet Maverick, the water had an oily sheen and smelled of gasoline, Hughes explained.
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“My husband was forward deployed at the time. He missed the birth of his son. He came home when he was five days old to meet him. To come home to jet fuel in our drinking water and have to deploy again, leaving us in the hands of the Navy he was sworn to protect, to have us refused care, denied, gaslit, and to this day not have all the appropriate care that we need for our daughter,” Hughes told Fox.
Their daughter Kyla, who was just four years old at the time of the leak, went into a full psychosis, Hughes said.
“When Kyla started experiencing her symptoms, she went from a happy-go-lucky four-year-old little girl that went into full psychosis. We went through her being a normal functioning in school to not being able to leave our house for months at a time because of her level of disability,” Hughes said.
The Hughes family. (Courtesy of Jaclyn Hughes)
Aurora Briggs, another plaintiff, was 22-years-old at the time of the leak. She was living in civilian housing on land owned by the U.S. Navy with her younger siblings and her mom. Briggs has dealt with dozens of symptoms ranging from a sore throat to memory loss and brain fog. Living in Arizona now, she has had trouble getting care.
It is not every day a doctor is told the patients’ symptoms stem from long-term exposure to jet fuel, Briggs explained.
“The list is so long that we have a binder just to keep track of all the different conditions, symptoms, doctor’s appointments, and everything. It’s extensive,” Briggs said.
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Of her symptoms, Briggs said, “I feel like I have dementia because I just get to the point where I can’t remember things, and I struggle with, you know, even thinking of words. Sometimes just talking is a struggle.”
Both Hughes and Briggs find the U.S. Navy at fault for how the leak was dealt with.
“The institution of the Navy grossly mishandled this. Specifically, those who were in charge of communicating to us in testing, in maintenance and in handling all of the Red Hill contamination. We are a proud Navy family. My husband serves, he is underway as we speak. Our family has served. We feel betrayed by the institution that was supposed to be protecting us,” Hughes said.
Aurora in the hospital after experiencing symptoms from ingesting jet fuel. (Courtesy of Aurora Briggs)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the Red Hill facility closed in March 2022. 12.4 million gallons of diesel and 93 million gallons of jet fuel had to be moved to multiple locations in the Indo-Pacific area of command.
But, Baehr said the Navy still hasn’t cleaned up the jet fuel still sticking to the pipes. Families are still reporting a sheen in the water and an oily smell.
“What we know either way is that there’s a sheen in the water. People are reporting symptoms. The EPA is concerned and the Navy is continuing to turn a blind eye. So no, that water is not safe. We’ve got a situation where people are still sick who were there in November of 2021. And the water is still not safe.”
The U.S. Navy pushed back on this claim in a statement to Fox News.
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“After the initial spill in November 2021 the Navy took immediate action to recover (flush) the system and implemented a robust sampling program. The Navy also disconnected the affected well and ensured all drinking water was provided from a different shaft,” the statement read.
The Navy told Fox it has taken 9,000 samples to EPA-approved labs and found the water now meets state and federal safety standards. The Navy noted the Hawaii Department of Health confirmed through its own independent investigation that no petroleum or jet fuel compounds were detected in drinking water samples collected at or near the Navy base.
But there is a long road ahead to deal with the fallout from the leak.
“We as the families impacted in the thousands need to hear them say, yes, you were injured by this. There are kids that are sick. There are kids that need long term care. There needs to be accountability,” Hughes said.
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David Coit scored 17 points, Elijah Saunders added 15, and Maryland defeated Oregon 70-60 in a first-round game of the Big Ten Tournament on Tuesday.
Maryland held Oregon to 3-for-22 shooting (14%) with 0 for 10 from 3-point distance in the first half and the Terrapins led 33-12 at the break. Maryland scored the first nine points and the Ducks made their first field goal at the 8:46 mark, making the score 17-8. Maryland later ran off 10 consecutive points for a 31-10 lead. Coit scored 12 points in the first half.
An 11-2 run helped the Ducks cut their deficit to 12 points early in the second half, but Maryland allowed only three points over the next 5 1/2 minutes and the lead was 58-34 near the 8-minute mark. A dunk and a three-point play from Nate Bittle started a 15-2 run for Oregon and it was 60-49 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.
The Ducks got within single digits a few times, the last at 67-58 with 53 seconds remaining but Maryland’s Darius Adams made 3 of 4 free throws to preserve a double-digit margin.
Bittle scored 16 points, Kwame Evans Jr. 14 and Takai Simpkins 10 for 16th-seeded Oregon (12-20).
Maryland, seeded 17th, got 12 points, six rebounds and five assists from Andre Mills. Solomon Washington also scored 12 points and Adams finished with 10 points for the Terrapins (12-20).
Maryland defeated Oregon for the first time. The Ducks had won the only two prior matchups — both since joining the Big Ten last season. Most recently, Oregon won 64-54 at Maryland in January.
Up next
Maryland plays ninth-seeded Iowa in the second round on Wednesday.
SALT LAKE CITY — The 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City were, in a way, Utah’s entrance onto the world stage.
While the Beehive State is no longer a secret, the return of the Winter Olympics in 2034 will give the state a chance to showcase what could very well be the future of flight after the Utah Department of Transportation and state partners on Monday were selected to lead a federal pilot program to test advanced electric aircraft and other emerging aviation technologies.
More specifically, the Federal Aviation Administration selected Utah as one of eight projects nationwide for the Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program, a three-year initiative designed to help safely integrate advanced aircraft into the national airspace.
“What this means for Utah and for advanced air mobility is that this enables us to work very closely with the FAA in testing the technology that makes up advanced air mobility,” said Matt Maass, director of UDOT’s Aeronautics Division. “So the vertical takeoff and landing aircraft will be used for moving passengers, these aircraft will be used for moving cargo, medical transport, and it’s all going to be done electrically.”
Specifically, through an initiative called “uFly,” Utah will lead a collaboration between Oregon, Idaho, Arizona and Oklahoma — along with industry partners and research institutions — to test new aviation technology and gather data that will inform the future of electric flight.
Partners in the initiative include BETA Technologies, Ampaire, Joby Aviation, Lockheed Martin, Future Flight Global, Alpine Air, Jump Aero and Utah aerospace and defense company 47G.
Utah has been selected by @SecDuffy and the FAA as one of eight national pilot sites for next-generation electric aircraft. We’re proud to help shape the future of aviation right here in Utah, creating jobs, strengthening mobility, and keeping America at the forefront of… pic.twitter.com/pV2envlxUt
— Governor Cox (@GovCox) March 9, 2026
BETA Technologies might sound familiar to a lot of Utahns, for good reason.
In May 2024, the company launched Project ALTA in conjunction with 47G. Technically known as the Air Logistics Transportation Alliance, the project’s goal is to establish an “advanced air mobility system” for the state.
According to 47G, advanced air mobility is a novel mode of transportation that uses electric aircraft to move people and packages throughout the state. BETA Technologies in March 2025 returned to the state to conduct six days of demonstration flights, showcasing its electric ALIA aircraft.
The federal project, although it doesn’t have any funding attached, brings together over 30 public and private partners to conduct real-world flight operations.
“It will focus on parcels and packages, but then eventually people,” said Aaron Starks, president and CEO of 47G. “This designation now allows us to, through a phased approach, begin implementing all of this right away.”
Utah’s diverse landscapes are another reason the FAA chose the state to lead one of eight projects, Maass explained, saying the electric aircraft can be tested at high-altitude, snowy settings, desert environments and more.
Starks added he’s excited by the prospect of Utah leading the way when it comes to building a functional air mobility system.
“I grew up in northern Utah and rural Utah, and I remember as a kid, coming down to Salt Lake was like a big deal. That was the big city, right? You can be in an air taxi in Provo and into Moab in 36 minutes,” Starks said. “(If) I’m a Utah Jazz fan, or I want to go catch an MLB game, I can get in an air taxi and my family and I can be in Salt Lake, and we can be part of what’s happening here in the state, and live further away from the metropolitan areas that exist on the Wasatch Front. It’s awesome. It’s really cool.”
Starks added that in addition to moving people and packages, the project is also looking into how electric aircraft can be used for avalanche detection and mitigation, organ transplant delivery, wildfire monitoring and other exciting applications.
“This is going to happen in a phased approach, and our goal is to democratize this form of transportation so all families can take advantage,” Starks said.
The pilot program, like the inaugural ventures into electric flight from players like 47G, UDOT and BETA Technologies, has strong legislative backing.
Utah Senate President Stuart Adams said that nearly a decade ago, he told the Legislature that someday, electric air taxis would be flying in Utah and that he wanted the state to lead that effort.
“That one day, that one day is here today. We are now leading the effort with other states to bring air mobility to Utah and I couldn’t be more excited,” Adams said. “Our goal, our vision, is, we hope to have this functioning to be able to show off air taxis delivering to our Olympic venues.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
WASHINGTON STATE — Winter was nearly out of here, but after months of hitting the snooze button, the season has decided to wake up.
Western Washington has already seen a return to wintry conditions over the past few days, including brief lowland snow in the North Sound on Tuesday morning. The Cascades are covered in fresh snow, with nearly 3 feet reported at Stevens Pass in the past 48 hours.
An extended plume of moisture — known as an atmospheric river — is expected to move into the Northwest tonight through Thursday. This is not a “Pineapple Express”-style system, as it is oriented straight across the Pacific rather than tapping into warmer air near Hawaii. That means steady precipitation, but snow levels should remain near pass level instead of rising significantly, as they did during storms in December.
Rain is spreading across the region tonight, gradually pushing out the remaining cold air near sea level. Some wet snow or sleet may briefly mix with rain in the lowlands, but it is not expected to last. Overnight lows will hover near 40 degrees in Seattle and Tacoma.
Snow is already falling in the mountains and will intensify on Wednesday. A winter storm warning is in effect for the Cascades, where an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow is expected in the next 24 hours. In the lowlands, periods of cool March rain are expected on Wednesday, with damp conditions for both the morning and evening commutes. High temperatures will reach about 50 degrees in the metro area, close to normal for this time of year.
Feet of snow, gusts up to 50+ mph expected in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains
The heavy snow and gusty wind expected have prompted a rare Blizzard Warning in the mountains Wednesday Evening.{ } Image courtesy of the KOMO 4 Forecast Team.{ }(KOMO News)
By Wednesday evening, a rapidly strengthening area of low pressure will move through Western Washington. Southerly winds of 30 to 50 mph, with gusts up to 55 mph, are expected across the region, including along the coast and through Puget Sound. The strongest winds between Kitsap and King counties are expected between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. A wind advisory is in effect, and gusty conditions could cause tree damage and power outages.
As the storm moves east, winds will shift to the west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the San Juan Islands. Gusts of 40 to 55 mph are possible in areas such as Oak Harbor, Port Angeles, and Anacortes.
Strong winds combined with heavy mountain snow have prompted a blizzard warning for parts of the Cascades and Olympics from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday. Winds could exceed 60 mph near mountain peaks and remain strong near the passes. Travel across the Cascades is expected to be hazardous on Wednesday night.
Heavy rain, mountain snow and gusty winds will make for a stormy Wednesday and Thursday around the region. Image courtesy of the KOMO 4 Forecast Team. (KOMO News)
By Thursday, winds will ease, but rain in the lowlands and snow in the mountains will continue. Snow levels are expected to remain near 2,000 feet through Thursday and Friday, adding to late-season snowfall at the passes and ski areas.
Another push of colder air is expected Friday night into Saturday, lowering snow levels to about 500 feet by Saturday morning. Some brief, light accumulations of lowland snow are possible. High temperatures on Saturday will struggle to rise much above the lower 40s.
Conditions are expected to improve Sunday and Monday, with drier weather and increasing sunshine just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Highs could approach 60 degrees by Monday afternoon.
Until then, winter appears to be making one final push.
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