Camp Lejeune water contamination claims/lawsuits

Since the beginning of this month, 22 more toxic exposure victims have filed civil lawsuits under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. By the end of the month, approximately 260 Camp Lejeune civil lawsuits were filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina since the first claims brought under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act had become eligible to bring civil cases over one month ago.

Over 15,000 Camp Lejeune toxic water claims have been filed by veterans, family members, and civilians under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. A recent article from Bloomberg News suggests that there could be up to 500,000 claims until the deadline, which is August 2024. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry study estimates that the number of people who spent time at the military base and developed cancer and other serious health problems is roughly 200,000. Therefore, a reasonable estimate of Camp Lejeune toxic water claims is 100,000 to 200,000.

Additionally, the VA is urging Camp Lejeune toxic exposure victims to file claims for VA disability benefits, even if they are pursuing a claim under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. The VA's Office of the General Counsel recently issued a statement assuring veterans "that VA is not going to reduce or deny your benefits" if you pursue a claim under the new law. The VA statements aim to clarify that disability benefits are still available to those who bring lawsuits under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Camp Lejeune claims will cost "$6.1 billion over the next ten years." This is based on the CBO cost analysis issued in February 2022 when the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was first introduced. However, the CBO subsequently issued another report that revised its estimate. Even if we consider this number and assume that the total claim number will be approximately 20,000, that would equate to roughly $305,000 per claim.

By January 9, up to 14,000 Camp Lejeune toxic water claims had been filed since the Camp Lejeune Justice Act became law. The total number of toxic exposure claims might easily reach 75,000 in 2023. Lastly, 4 more Camp Lejeune legacy cases were dismissed for failing to re-submit an administrative claim to JAG before filing a civil suit. Only a small handful of the legacy cases remain pending, and they will likely be rejected on the same basis soon.

According to the Navy JAG Tort Claims Unit, the number of claims filed by toxic exposure victims under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act is up to 14,000. This number is expected to double over the next few months. Furthermore, in all Camp Lejeune legacy cases, the court clerk entered a note on the docket stating that the government's motion to dismiss for failure to refile administrative claims has been "submitted to District Judge Terrence W. Boyle." This could mean that the motion in all Camp Lejeune legacy cases will be subject to a single decision and ruling by Judge Boyle.

Finally, a judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina dismissed 8 of the Camp Lejeune legacy cases for failing to refile administrative claims with JAG after the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was enacted. Judge James C. Denver, III, ruled that when the bill was passed in August, it created new legal claims that could not be related to the prior lawsuits filed by the legacy plaintiffs. Although this ruling applied to only 8 of the 22 legacy cases, it will most likely be followed by the other judges in their cases.

A former U.S. Marine claims he developed kidney cancer as a consequence of exposure to the PFAS that contaminated Camp Lejeune following the use of the fire suppressant AFFF. James Hart filed his complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on May 31. He pursues claims against various chemical and safety equipment manufacturers that sell AFFF.

According to the lawsuit, the man was assigned to Camp Lejeune in 1972. Hart was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2017, and high levels of PFAS were found in his blood.

Proposed by Representative Matt Cartwright on March 26, 2021, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act is meant to allow certain individuals to file claims and lawsuits and recover damages for harm from exposure to toxic chemicals at Camp Lejeune that occurred between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987. However, this action is available only to people exposed to harmful chemicals for at least 30 days. The bill also forbids the U.S. government from asserting immunity from litigation in response to such a lawsuit.

On June 16, 2022, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, bill number H.R. 2192, passed, and now, military veterans, their family members, and civilians have access to the court systems. It enables everyone whose health was affected by living and working at Camp Lejeune to exercise their constitutional right to take legal action against the U.S. government for toxic exposure on the base.

A Record of Decision (ROD) was issued in 2018 and referred to Site UXO-06 (OU24), which includes a borrow pit once used as a target for military practice and three adjacent cantonment areas. The remedies were institutional controls and munition surface clearance, which were implemented in 2019.

A ROD was also issued in 2019 concerning Site UXO-24 and Site 37 (OU26). They include undeveloped property and a former surface dump. The remedy for Site UXO-24 was institutional controls. Remedy implementation for various areas of Camp Lejeune continues to this day.

In early 2017, the VA released a definitive rule providing veterans, reservists, National Guard members, and their surviving spouses access to more than $2 billion in disability benefits. With this rule came a list of eight diseases for which the department says there is enough medical evidence to be connected to Camp Lejeune's toxic exposure to cancer chemicals.

Also, in 2017, Congress passed another statute that allowed veterans to receive compensation on a presumption of exposure. A presumption of exposure means that a veteran has qualifying service, and as a result, the VA presumes that they were exposed to certain harmful chemicals or environmental hazards. Presumptions of exposure replace the requirement for service connection that requires veterans to have in-service events or symptoms that caused their current condition. In these instances, the VA counts in-service exposure as the event.

In 2016, Marine Corps veterans and their family members filed 800 Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuits per the Federal Tort Claims Act. It allows individuals to sue the government for personal injuries or death caused by the negligence of a federal employee. The lawsuits were consolidated into multidistrict litigation in federal court as per state law. The Camp Lejeune litigation was still ongoing in 2018, and no trial date had been set for these first lawsuits.

During this time, the cleanup activities of the Navy included three removal actions at Site 6 (OU-2), UXO-01, and UXO-23. The remedy for Site UXO-19 was institutional controls to limit exposure to contaminated soil.

In 2012, Congress passed the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act. This granted a series of benefits to the family members who were exposed to chemicals at Camp Lejeune. It also provided healthcare benefits to veterans who were on active duty at Camp Lejeune, as well as to their family members.

Furthermore, that year, President Obama signed the Janey Ensminger Act. This law, named after the daughter of a serviceman stationed at the camp who lost her life to cancer at 9 years old, authorizes medical care to military personnel and their family members who were stationed at Camp Lejeune and developed conditions linked to contamination. This law could apply to up to 750,000 people.

Between 2001 and 2009, the U.S. Navy led a pilot-scale treatability study using electrical resistance heating to clean up the areas containing dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) and completed a removal action using low-level heat to destroy the contaminants in soil. Roughly 48,000 pounds of VOCs were removed from the soil during the study. The Navy completed cleanup at:

• OU-7 (Sites 1, 28, and 30)
• OU-4 (Sites 41 and 74)
• OU-16 (Site 93)

In January 2008, President George W. Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act. This act included a requirement that the Department of the Navy, together with ATSDR, conduct a health survey of individuals possibly exposed to hazardous chemicals at Camp Lejeune.

Under the supervision of EPA, the U.S. Navy began the cleanup at Camp Lejeune. During this period, it removed and disposed of the following from areas throughout the military base:

• contaminated soils
• drums
• above-ground storage tanks
• underground storage tanks
• batteries
• waste liquids

The Navy also installed a bio-treatment cell for contaminated soil.

On October 4, 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed Camp Lejeune and ABC One-Hour Cleaners as Superfund sites and added both to the National Priorities List.

Located in North Carolina, U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune was established in 1942. Although contamination with toxic chemicals began occurring at the military base after 1953, it was only in 1982 that specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were found lurking in the environment of the installation by the Marine Corps.

Perchloroethylene (PCE) is another hazardous chemical that was present at Camp Lejeune, posing a serious risk of developing terrible diseases to everyone stationed there. It was eventually discovered that the source of contamination with PCE was the waste disposal practices of ABC One-Hour Cleaners, a dry-cleaning firm situated off-base.

In May 1982, the highest trichloroethylene (TCE) level detected at Camp Lejeune was 1,400 parts per billion (ppb) when the safe limit is just 5 ppb. The maximum level of PCE detected at Camp Lejeune was 215 ppb in February 1985, when the safe limit is also 5 ppb. Other dangerous chemicals found polluting the military base are benzene and vinyl chloride. Contamination with TCE and benzene was the result of years of improper use and disposal of chemicals on the military base employed for cleaning weapons and equipment.