'A'ali'i is a reporter with KITV. He was born and raised on the island of Maui and graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in Journalism.
Former Hawai'i Attorney General Margery Bronster is representing 14 claimants in legal action against the Navy over the Red Hill water pollution crisis.
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- Former Hawai'i Attorney General Margery Bronster is representing 14 claimants in legal action against the Navy over the Red Hill water pollution crisis.
Elisapeta Alaimateala, one of the claimants, said she suffered lesions and rashes from being exposed to contaminated water.
"It could have been prevented. We didn't have to find out from a letter informing us, we didn't have to find out from an announcement from our leaders about this," Alaimateala said. "We had to find out from our own neighbors and we had to find out from our own family members."
Currently, Bronster and other attorneys are filing claims against the Navy, which involves gathering details from claimants and experts.
If the Navy does not respond once the claims are processed, then Bronster said they will initiate a lawsuit.
"I'm hopeful," Bronster said. "But you always start out hoping that the adversary who has admitted wrong doing and admitted fault is going to do the right thing. It's not always easy."
The legal action differs from others over the tainted water crisis because it is taking on the Navy directly, as opposed to other firms that are suing landlords.
Bronster brought in mainland environmental law firm McCune Wright Arevalo as a reinforcement.
Partner Cory Weck, a former Marine Corps major, said there is precedent for legal action against a large agency such as the Navy, pointing to the contaminated water incident at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina.
The crisis amassed thousands of complaints over the past two decades, and according to Weck, the results of the litigation have varied.
"It's never easy to sue the federal government," Weck explained. "They have all the resources in the world and that's why firms such as ours and Margery's are brought in to help bring some balance to the scales of justice."
KITV4 is awaiting a response from the Navy on this legal action.
'A'ali'i is a reporter with KITV. He was born and raised on the island of Maui and graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in Journalism.
