The Justice Department admitted a Navy jet fuel leak in Hawaii caused thousands to suffer injuries. Now, victims are suing the government.

The U.S. government, in what an attorney says is a "monumental admission," said last year that it caused injury to thousands of people on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when jet fuel from its storage facility leaked into the drinking water system. On Monday, thousands of military family members and locals are headed to trial seeking financial compensation. 

Kristina Baehr, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case, said her firm has 7,500 clients suing over the leak. Monday's proceedings kick off a bellwether trial, meaning it's a smaller consolidation of lawsuits taken from a larger group. 

The case dates back to the week of Thanksgiving in 2021, when nearly 20,000 gallons of jet fuel leaked out of the World War II-era Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and into the water system that serves about 93,000 people near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Oahu. Military officials for days denied there was anything wrong with the water, as seen in recorded testimony and memos sent from that time.