Justice Michael Lee held up a thick folder on the first day of the latest Federal Court hearing into the proposed settlement of the PFAS class action involving Katherine.
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Justice Lee said the folder contained mostly objections from the residents of Katherine, Oakey and Williamtown on the amount of the settlement.
There were more than 30 objections from Katherine residents, he said.
The number of registrations to the Katherine claim has not been revealed but is believed to be more than 1000.
Katherine's proposed $92.5 million PFAS class action payout was back before the Federal Court for a two-day hearing.
Hundreds of Katherine residents have been excited about the "estimated" property payout amounts but they have yet to be confirmed by the court.
Many others have contacted the court at Justice Lee's invitation saying they are not happy with the amount.
Justice Lee said many of the statements from residents were "quite moving".
Lawyers said despite the large number of objections, there was a great many more people who had not objected.
Justice Lee said some of the objections discussed the difference in the estimated payouts and the formula applied to the loss of property values.
He said despite the valuations some people believed they were "stuck with their land" and believed it to be unsalable because of PFAS contamination.
"A lot of people believe they are locked into keeping their properties," the court was told.
"We are dealing with people's lives here," Justice Lee said.
The court hearing is also debating the acceptance of late registrations to the settlement, some from Katherine as late as this week.
A "Settlement Approval Application" is listed for hearing before Justice Lee to conclude tomorrow.
The settlement hearing will be heard in conjunction with the proposed settlements for Oakey ($34 million) and Williamtown ($86 million).
Justice Lee is meeting with lawyers representing the contaminated communities and the Defence Department the terms of the settlement.
The court was told today the litigants for Katherine had estimated a desired settlement figure for Katherine of $74m which was below the actual proposed settlement figure of $92.5m.
The court plans to hear from some of those objectors, including three from Katherine, today.
More to come.