The tanker Empire State sits at a pier at Joint-Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Oct 13, 2023 before the US military begins draining fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, which leaked fuel into a drinking water well and poisoned 6,000 people in 2021. (PHOTO / AP)

A group of more than 2,000 military family members and residents of Hawaii sued the US government on Monday over a 2021 fuel spill that tainted drinking water at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Hawaii, accuses the government of negligence in its handling of the November 2021 spill, which released 19,000 gallons of jet fuel from Pearl Harbor’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility into a water system used by hundreds of thousands of military members and civilians.

The plaintiffs, who allege a wide spectrum of health problems, claim that the government failed to prevent the spill and failed to warn people about the danger

The plaintiffs, who allege a wide spectrum of health problems, claim that the government failed to prevent the spill and failed to warn people about the danger. About half of the plaintiffs are also accusing the government of failing to provide proper medical care to people impacted.

They are seeking compensatory damages to cover the costs of medical care and changes to their homes that became necessary after the spill.

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A spokesperson for the US Navy said it was tracking the case but could not comment on the litigation. On Friday, the Navy put out a release that said its testing had found that the water was safe for drinking but that a “swarm team” of US Environmental Protection Agency, military medical staff and Hawaii Department of Health experts had been on the island for a week conducting further investigation into complaints about the water.

The government has acknowledged that the incident at Red Hill, which has been in the process of shutting down, occurred when thousands of gallons of jet fuel were incorrectly shunted to a pipe and then released after a vehicle hit the pipe in November 2021.

The lawsuit notes a December EPA report that indicated some chemicals remain in the water system.

Monday's lawsuit, filed by attorney Kristina Baehr, is at least the sixth brought against the government over the fuel leak, according to court records. An earlier lawsuit filed by military family members is slated to go to trial in April. The service members impacted by the water, who are subject to law that governs their ability to sue the government, are pursuing their own lawsuit.

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Because they are suing under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the plaintiffs were required to file administrative claims against the government and then wait six months before filing their lawsuits. Baehr said the law required the filing of a mass action, where each plaintiff is named individually, rather than a class action, which would allow them to sue as a group.

Thousands more administrative claims are pending with the government, and those people will join the lawsuit when they are eligible, the lawsuit said.