Camp Lejeune contaminated water: overview

Contaminated water has affected thousands of military veterans at Camp Lejuene in North Carolina. For decades people who lived or worked on the military base have suffered health problems resulting from the contaminated water. They’ve called for justice for this preventable, decades-long tragedy. “We’ve lost so many people it’s ridiculous,” said Curtis Crawford, a co-organizer of a public event in 2021. He told The Daily News he was trying to get more people to share stories and push for a health registry for record-keeping of victims’ symptoms. It appears that unification among victims is working. The president and the U.S. Congress has passed Camp Lejeune legislation, meaning individuals harmed by the water supply will have a two-year window to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government. The bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden in August after being stalled due to a  Blue Slip Objection.  The legislation represents a big step for victims of Camp Lejeune water contamination.

Contaminated Water for Decades

Marine Corps members and their families who spent time at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 were exposed to contaminated water. “Anybody who served in the United States Marine Corps, and went for combat training, probably went to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina,” Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D-PA) told The Hill. “So this is not just a North Carolina issue; it’s a national issue.”

The tap water at Camp Lejeune contained chemicals up to 3,400 times the levels permitted by today’s safety standard. Specifically, organic compounds such as perchloroethylene, a dry cleaning solvent and trichloroethylene, a degreaser, were the most highly concentrated chemicals found in the tainted water. The water was also found to contain benzene and vinyl chloride. Exposure to these chemicals is believed to have caused cancer, Parkinson’s disease, stillbirths, infertility, miscarriages, and more. 

Contaminated water can affect thousands of people, and lawsuits have been filed over the effects of contaminated water in a range of industries, and in both the private and public sector.

Camp Lejeune Justice Act

In August, President Joe Biden signed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act into law. The law gives gives military members, civilians and their families the right to file lawsuits against the U.S. government and prevents the government from asserting specific immunity from litigation.

Speaking to the importance of the law as it relates to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, U.S. Representative Gregory Murphy (R-NC), a co-sponsor of the bill that was later signed into law, said more than one million people were exposed to contaminated water during the time frame the camp was operating. “This much-needed legislation eliminates red tape and gives our veterans, their dependents, contractors and civil servants who were exposed to toxic chemicals in drinking water at Camp Lejeune their day in court. We owe it to these Marine families, civil servants and contractors to seek justice and ensure they receive the benefits and health care they deserve.”

Cartwright, another of the bill’s sponsors, said service members and others who lived and worked at Camp Lejeune “were let down in a big way by their government. This tragedy was a major failure on the part of the Department of Defense, and all those who suffered for it deserve justice.”

Previous legislation, the “Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act of 2011” directed the Department of Defense to pay for the care of victims of the contaminated water, which was to be administered by the VA.

The new legislation signals that now is the time for the thousands of people who have suffered health problems from contaminated water at Camp Lejeune to seek legal representation to be compensated for the government’s negligence.