Camp Lejeune Claims & Lawsuits

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.

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.