The defendants in this case are four landlords on the Hawaiian island of Oahu—Ohana Military Communities, LLC, Hunt MH Property Management, LLC, Island Palm Communities, LLC, and Hickam Communities, LLC—and possibly others, as yet unknown. These landlords, the complaint alleges, have “forcibly evicted” families from their homes because the drinking water for the properties has been contaminated by fuel leaks from the US Department of the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
The landlord defendants in this case manage and rent out housing in the city and county of Honolulu under agreements with the Navy. The three plaintiffs are tenants that were tenants of that housing and who have now been put out of those homes because of the contaminated water.
Among the services provided by the landlords at the properties is the provision of drinking water, which comes through the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Water System, which is maintained by the Navy. However, the complaint alleges that this water supply “has not been sufficiently protected from the risk of fuel contamination associated with repeated leaks of petroleum fuel” from the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
The Red Hill facility has twenty underground storage tanks (USTs), pipelines, and other infrastructure necessities for storing and distributing marine diesel and jet fuel.
Unfortunately, according to the complaint, the facility “sits directly above Oahu’s sole-source groundwater aquifer, the Southern Oahu Basal Aquifer, which is irreplaceable and the principal source of drinking water for Oahu[,] supplying [around] 77% of the water supply for the island including water for the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Water System.”
The complaint alleges that it is fuel leaks from this facility that have contaminated the water: “Red Hill is estimated to have leaked more than 178,434 gallons of fuel since its inception and presents an undisputed risk to the aquifer that furnishes potable water to the communities leased by Defendant Landlords.” The complaint further claims that the landlords knew about the risk of water contamination, because of their relationship with the Navy and the sale of the water from the Joint Base water system.
In November 2021, the complaint claims, more leaks from Red Hill contaminated the drinking water for the landlords’ properties, which the complaint says “forc[ed] the unreasonable evictions of thousands of Plaintiff Tenants without cause.” The complaint estimates that more than 2,000 tenants have been evicted.
The class for this action is not specifically defined in the complaint. However, it appears to include all tenants of the landlords’ properties who have been forcibly evicted because of the landlords’ failure to provide clean, safe, and healthy water. The results sought in the lawsuit include the recovery of economic damages, including the repayment of rent.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Real Estate
Most Recent Case Event
Tenants Evicted Due to Water Contamination by Navy Fuel Leaks Complaint
January 24, 2022
The defendants in this case are four landlords on the Hawaiian island of Oahu—Ohana Military Communities, LLC, Hunt MH Property Management, LLC, Island Palm Communities, LLC, and Hickam Communities, LLC—and possibly others, as yet unknown. These landlords, the complaint alleges, have “forcibly evicted” families from their homes because the drinking water for the properties has been contaminated by fuel leaks from the US Department of the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
Tenants Evicted Due to Water Contamination by Navy Fuel Leaks ComplaintCase Event History
Tenants Evicted Due to Water Contamination by Navy Fuel Leaks Complaint
January 24, 2022
The defendants in this case are four landlords on the Hawaiian island of Oahu—Ohana Military Communities, LLC, Hunt MH Property Management, LLC, Island Palm Communities, LLC, and Hickam Communities, LLC—and possibly others, as yet unknown. These landlords, the complaint alleges, have “forcibly evicted” families from their homes because the drinking water for the properties has been contaminated by fuel leaks from the US Department of the Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
Tenants Evicted Due to Water Contamination by Navy Fuel Leaks Complaint