The hundreds of thousands of people who lived, worked or served their country at Camp Lejeune while consuming contaminated water now have an outlet to make a claim against the U.S. government if they or a family member were diagnosed with cancer or serious illness, or if they were affected by miscarriages and birth defects—conditions possibly linked to exposure to contaminated water.
A bill awaiting President Biden’s signature would eliminate immunity that had protected the U.S. government from being sued under a North Carolina law. Now, as part of the much-discussed PACT Act, the door has been opened for plaintiffs to file lawsuits and seek damages for the effects caused by the water at Camp Lejeune.
Civil court action has not been an option for those potentially affected by the water. A North Carolina rule barred claims after too much time passed. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act, which passed both the House and Senate before being included in the PACT Act, was a bipartisan effort. The new law waives the protection from state statute and allows plaintiffs to sue the government for harm under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The Camp Lejeune act prohibits the U.S. government from asserting immunity.
The terms of the bill dictate that any amount awarded to a plaintiff would be offset by disability payments received by Veterans Affairs, Medicare, or Medicaid. This means that if a plaintiff receives a settlement award of $1 million but they have already received $200,000 in disability payments from the government, then the actual settlement amount they receive will be $800,000.
Camp Lejeune claims and water history
From 1957 through 1987, Marines, family members and military contractors drank and/or bathed in water contaminated with toxins at concentrations of 240 to 3,400 times higher than what is considered safe. In 1982, the Marine Corps discovered two of the eight water treatment plants on the base were producing water with high readings of certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has stated that “elevated levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), vinyl chloride, and other contaminants in the drinking water at the Camp Lejeune likely increased the risk of cancers (kidney, multiple myeloma, leukemias, and others), adverse birth outcomes, and other adverse health effects of residents (including infants and children), civilian workers, Marines and Naval personnel at Camp Lejeune.” Water from one of the treatment plants, according to the ATSDR, was tainted by waste disposal practices at ABC One-Hour Cleaners, an off-base dry cleaning business.
Accountability avoidance is another layer to the story. Documents show that contamination was identified in 1980, but the military covered up that discovery and allowed resident exposure to continue for another seven years.
So many babies died at the camp that there is an entire cemetery called “Baby Heaven.” The Washington Post reported that “birth defects were the norm.” A 2003 federal study, according to the newspaper’s investigation, found that instances of Spina Bifida and anencephaly, conditions in which part of the brain or skull is missing, were 265 times higher at Camp Lejeune than the national average.
One woman, Nancy “Catherine” Daniels, told rollcall.com that she lost three babies at birth, possibly due to the water.
“I was pregnant three different times,” Daniels told Roll Call. “The first time, I went into spontaneous labor. I went to the doctor for a checkup and they put me in the hospital because I had dilated. And then I lost the baby. It lived about two hours…Then the second time, the same thing happened,” Daniels said. “The third time, I was in the hospital about three weeks. I lost that baby too.”
Attorneys are standing by to help the victims who have suffered from the effects of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. An investigation is seeking those who have experienced one or more of the following health issues while living at least 30 days at the Camp Lejeune military base:
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Adult leukemia
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Parkinson’s disease
Fill out the form on this page to see if you qualify.
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My father was military intelligence never been near camp Lejeune but was stationed in Thailand on Vietnam border. Worked in listening post where AGENT Orange was extensively used. He is now covered , at 16 years of age i began showing symptoms of Parkinson’s, at 32 i was officially diagnosed, i applied for coverage as well but was denied. Can you help?
We’re Army veterans stationed there?
please add me
please add me
There is one thing the lawyers are not telling potential clients, if a person received any medical treatment for the condition claimed in the lawsuit by the military, VA, or other government program any money received from the settlement must be used to pay back these entities. Remember cancer treatment is very expensive, you must refund that money first. You will end up with nothing. Same with every other medical conditions. If you ask the lawyer they will say, every case has its own set of value. Point blank ask, they know.