LIHU‘E — The state of Hawai‘i agreed to pay $1.5 million as part of a settlement between numerous parties in the resolution of various wrongful-death and property-damage lawsuits stemming from the 2006 failure of the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam. In
LIHU‘E — The state of Hawai‘i agreed to pay $1.5 million as part of a settlement between numerous parties in the resolution of various wrongful-death and property-damage lawsuits stemming from the 2006 failure of the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam.
In a two-page appendix to the 86-page global settlement agreement, both of which were provided to The Garden Island by the state Attorney General’s Office in response to a formal document request, the state agreed to provide $1.5 million in cash payment, subject to legislative approval.
Furthermore, the state agreed to not assess any of the various plaintiffs for any costs for clean-up, remediation, restoration or property damage arising out of the failure of the dam on March 14, 2006.
The state’s portion of the settlement had been ordered unsealed by 5th Circuit Judge Kathleen Watanabe on Tuesday.
The state is among roughly 20 defendants in the lawsuits. The county of Kaua‘i, North Shore landowner and retired Honolulu auto dealer James Pflueger, the Mary Lucas Trust, C. Brewer, the Kilauea Irrigation Company and others are also named.
While the county’s share could eventually be released — attempts to reach County Attorney Al Castillo for comment this week were unsuccessful — settlement amounts for the other “releasees” were not included in the state’s appendix and are not expected to be made public.
The total amount of the settlement due to dozens of plaintiffs — including Bruce Fehring, who was among those who lost family in the tragedy, as well as area landowners like entertainer Bette Midler — has not been released.
Under terms of the global settlement, which all parties agreed to on Oct. 29, those numbers will remain sealed.
Pflueger has been charged with seven counts of manslaughter, one for each of the seven lives lost when millions of gallons of water poured toward Kilauea early on the morning of March 14, 2006 after 40 days of near-constant rain.
State prosecutors have alleged that Pflueger’s decision to fill in the spillway, a safety feature of the century-old earthen dam, caused the deaths. His trial is currently set to start in April.
The story was first reported on www.thegardenisland.com on Thursday.
