(CN) — A proposed $4 billion settlement that would resolve more than 450 lawsuits over the 2023 Maui wildfires hit a snag on Friday, when Hawaii Governor Josh Green said he was unhappy with the deal.
“There are some parties on the mainland that are simply asking for too much of the settlement, resources that I insist must go to families who were devastated by the fire,” Green said in a written statement. “I will personally call them out by name next week if they hurt Hawaii’s people or further delay this agreement.”
At least 102 people were killed in the fires that broke out in Hawaii in August 2023, making it the fifth most deadly wildfire in U.S. history. The fires also destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and caused an estimated $6 billion in damages. At the time, Green called it “worst natural disaster” in the state’s history.
The proposed settlement comes just a few weeks before the one year anniversary of the Aug. 8 wildfires.
The blaze also sparked hundreds of lawsuits. Many — including a number of class actions filed by residents and businesses, and a suit filed by the County of Maui — were aimed at the island’s electric utility, Hawaiian Electric, and its subsidiaries for negligently maintaining its power lines.
“Defendants knew that the high winds the NWS predicted would topple power poles, knock down power lines, and ignite vegetation. Defendants also knew that if their overhead electrical equipment ignited a fire, it would spread at a critically rapid rate,” Maui County said in its complaint.
Other lawsuits named state and local governments, landowners and Charter Communications as defendants.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Hawaiian Electric, Charter and other defendants had tentatively reached a global settlement worth more than $4 billion, with the utility company set to pay $1.5 billion, following a series of court-ordered mediation sessions.
“The settlement hasn’t been finalized yet,” Green said in his statement, “but we are working on it 24/7 to reach a positive resolution in the very near future.”
Maui County City Council is also set to vote Friday on on adoption of a resolution regarding the settlement after they first passed the resolution authorizing the Maui County Council to approve a global settlement on July 9.
Thousands on Maui remain displaced by the fires, despite support from the Hawaii legislature and federal funding.
