Latest Updates on Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Lawsuit 2022

Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuits are now being pursued, after new legislation was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden. The new law includes the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, which allows Marine veterans and family members to pursue financial compensation and settlements for injuries caused by exposure to toxic water at the military base.

Update March 10, 2023 – The first Camp Lejeune lawsuits have been filed under the new Act, as the 180 day waiting periods expire on claims presented shortly after the new law went into effect. The size of the litigation will continue to sharply increase as each individual plaintiff exhausts the administrative requirement that they wait 180 days after notifying the U.S. Navy of their claim.

Update October 1, 2022 – Since the passing of the PACT Act in August, at least 5,000 Camp Lejeune water contamination claims have been submitted by individuals who developed cancer and other injuries from exposure to toxins at the Marine base between 1953 and 1987.

Update August 10, 2022 – President Biden has signed “The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promises to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022”, which is more commonly known as the PACT Act. This includes a new Camp Lejeune water contamination law that allows veterans, family members and other individuals to file a lawsuit until August 10, 2024.

Update August 2, 2022 – This evening, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was fully passed by U.S. Congress, and President Biden has pledged to swiftly sign it into law as part of the “Honoring Our PACT” Act.  This will provide veterans, family members and other individuals two years to file a Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuits and pursue long overdue settlement benefits.

Update July 28, 2022 – A group of U.S. Senators temporarily blocked passage of this new legislation, preventing the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster. Sen. Schumer has indicated another cloture vote will be held next week.

Update July 15, 2022 – Following procedural issues caused by a tax provision in the Senate version of the “Honoring Our PACT” Act passed in June, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 342 to 88 this week to pass the amended bill as approved by the Senate, removing the one specific clause that has triggered the delay. It is expected that the U.S. Senate will once again approve the Camp Lejeune legislation with bi-partisan support, and send the legislation to President Biden’s desk.

Update June 17, 2022 – The United State Senate has passed the Camp Justice Lejeune Act by a vote of 84-14, as part of a package of bills known as the “Honoring Our PACT” Act. After the bill goes through a reconciliation process, President Biden has indicated he will sign it into law.

Update March 3, 2022 – the US House of Representatives passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CJLA) with bipartisan support in a 256-174 vote, once it receives Senate approval will allow those injured to file a lawsuit against the federal government.

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Lawsuit Criteria

Our law firm is actively investigating potential cases for veterans and family members who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least thirty (30) cumulative days between August 1953 and December 1987 and have been diagnosed with any of the following injuries:

Is there a Lawsuit for Camp Lejeune water contamination?

As of August 3, 2022, the U.S. Congress has now passed the “Honoring our PACT” Act which brings veterans and their families one step closer to being able to file lawsuits over Camp Lejeune water injuries.

The new law includes the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (CJLA), which will remove the government’s statute of limitations and qualified immunity defenses to claims brought by individuals who suffered an injury from Camp Lejeune water contamination.

President Biden is expected to sign the Camp Lejeune water contamination law in August 2022, clearing the way for Camp Lejeune water lawsuits to be filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (E.D.N.C.) for at least the next two years regardless of whether they previously would have been barred because of how long ago the injury occurred.

While each lawsuit will remain an individual claim, it is expected that the court will coordinate pretrial proceedings in the litigation similar to a Camp Lejeune MDL class action lawsuit.

What are the expected Camp Lejeune Water Contamination settlement amounts?

Unfortunately, there are too many factors to give an exact settlement amount for a Camp Lejeune toxic water lawsuit. However, we can use prior settlement amounts for comparable cases and injuries to make an estimate of what the average Camp Lejeune lawsuit payout may be.

The recent Roundup lawsuits are very similar to the Camp Lejeune cancer lawsuits, since they both involve toxic chemical exposure that resulted in certain types of cancer, including Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We will be using the average and median settlement amounts to come up with an expected range.

Based on the settlement data, we could potentially expect Camp Lejeune cancer settlement amounts between: $167,523 and $575,000 on average. Keep in mind we do expect there to be multi-million dollar settlements for individual cases similar to Roundup (some were as high as $289 million). In addition, prior results in other litigation or cases does not predict or guarantee the results in future claims. This estimated settlement value for a Camp Lejeune lawsuit is only meant to provide an idea of what the average settlement could look like.

Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act was introduced by former marine and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, along with U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr of North Carolina.

Before the passage of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, veterans injured by contaminated water were unable to successfully pursue lawsuits due to a restrictive statute of limitations in the state of North Carolina and qualified immunity defenses:

A 2016 ruling from the U.S. District Court in Georgia dismissed all claims brought over Camp LeJeune water injuries based on the Feres Doctrine. The Feres doctrine prevents military service members from suing the government for any injuries that occurred during their service.

This ruling effectively removed any legal recourse the victims had to file a lawsuit since the exposure to the contaminated water happened to active duty service members on a military base, and claims for family members were barred by the North Carolina statute of repose.

The North Carolina statute of repose that prevents anyone from filing a lawsuit more than 10 years after the cause of the injury.

Many of the victims at Camp Lejeune were exposed anywhere from 40-70 years ago, making it nearly impossible to file a claim. To make matters even worse, nobody even knew about the water contamination problem until 1982, almost 30 years after veterans and family members were initially exposed. By the time anyone knew about the Camp Lejeune water problems, the 10 year North Carolina statute of repose was already expired on most potential claims.

What happened with the Camp Lejeune water contamination?

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is a United States military installation located in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Between 1953 and 1987 the military base Camp Lejeune and nearby Marine Corps Air Station New River suffered from multiple sources of water contamination that were not investigated until 1982.

During that time hundreds of thousands of United States Marine Corps (USMC) personnel and their family members who lived on base housing bathed in, drank and possibly inhaled water that contained toxic chemicals at levels that were between 200x – 300x higher than what is permitted by environmental safety regulations.

In 1982 the military base began testing the water for other chemicals in response to new safety standards that were recently enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report concluded that the water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with solvents and over 70 other hazardous chemicals.

What contaminants were in the water at Camp Lejeune?

Samples of the Camp Lejeune water supply contained at least four (4) toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including:

1. Trichloroethylene (TCE): Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a chemical used as an industrial degreaser for heavy machinery and as a refrigerant.
2. Tetrachloroethylene (also called perchloroethylene or PCE): Tetrachloroethylene is an industrial chemical used for dry cleaning and as a brake cleaner for vehicles.
3. Vinyl chloride (VC): Vinyl Chloride is a gas used in the manufacturing of plastics including PVC (polyvinyl chloride).
4. Benzene: Benzene is a highly flammable compound that is the main component of petroleum fuels including gasoline and diesel.

Sources of the Water Contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune

The ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) reports there were multiple sources may have caused Camp Lejeune drinking water contamination, including::

• Leakage from underground storage tanks containing fuel and other chemicals
• Contamination from waste disposal sites on base
• Improper disposal of solvents from nearby dry-cleaning company
• Leakage of chemicals used for degreasing on-base machinery

The report found that toxic chemicals were found in two of the eight water treatment plants at the Marine base:

Map of water contamination at Camp Lejeune

Tarawa Terrace Treatment Plant

The Tarawa Terrace water distribution plant began operation in 1952 and was shut down in March 1987. The plant provided water to the Tarawa Terrace family housing and Knox Trailer park on base.

The ATSDR report found water was contaminated at Tarawa Terrace with the dry cleaning solvent Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at concentrations that were 43x higher than the current EPA limit. The limit for drinking is 5 ppb and the amount found was 215 ppb.

Hadnot Point Treatment Plant

The Hadnot Point water distribution plant began operation in 1942 and served as the main supply of water to the barracks, Hospital Point family housing as well as the Midway Park and Paradise Point family housing units.

The water modeling report for Hadnot Point treatment plant found the following contaminants in the drinking water:

TCE (trichloroethylene) was the primary toxic chemical found at concentrations that were 280x higher than the acceptable EPA limits. The limit for drinking water is 5 ppb and the amount found was 1,400 ppb.

Other contaminants found at the Hadnot Point distribution plant included:

• benzene
• vinyl chloride
• trichloroethylene
• DCE (trans-1,2-dichloroethylene)

Holcomb Boulevard Treatment Plant

The Holcomb Boulevard water treatment plant at Camp Lejeune began operating in 1972 and served the family housing units Midway Park, Paradise Point, Berkeley Manor, and Watkins Village. The wells at Holcomb Boulevard were not contaminated, but during the hot summer months water from the Hadnot Point treatment plant was used frequently.

Is Camp Lejeune water still contaminated?

No, All of the contaminated wells were shut down in 1985 due to the health risks associated with the toxic solvents found in the Camp Lejeune water supply.

Which Camp Lejeune housing units were affected by water contamination?

Three (3) water distribution plants (Hadnot Point, Tarawa Terrace, and Holcomb Boulevard) supplied the majority of drinking water to on base family housing at Camp Lejeune.

The following family housing units at Camp Lejeune were affected by toxic water contamination:

• Tarawa Terrace I
• Tarawa Terrace II
• Midway Park
• Berkeley Manor
• Knox Landing
• Watkins Village
• Paradise Point
• Camp Knox Trailer Park
• Camp Johnson
• Camp Geiger
• MCAS New River
• Holcomb Boulevard
• Courthouse Bay
• Hospital Point

Is Camp Geiger part of Camp Lejeune water contamination?

Yes, Camp Geiger is considered part of the Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit. Veterans or family members who were at Camp Geiger are eligible to file a Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit if they suffered a qualifying injury.

Camp Geiger is a part of Marine Corp Base Camp Lejeune and is located about 10 miles north of the main camp in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The water system that supplied Camp Geiger was not found to be contaminated, but many were still exposed to contaminated water from other parts of the base.

Is MCAS New River part of Camp Lejeune water contamination?

Yes, MCAS New River is considered part of the Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit. Veterans or family members who lived or served at MCAS New River between 1953 – 1987 are eligible to file a Camp Lejeune lawsuit if they suffered injuries related to water contamination.

Marine Corp Air Base (MCAS) New River is located 9 miles north of the main base at Camp Lejeune and directly to the west of Camp Geiger.

Studies Link Multiple Health Problems and Cancer to Camp Lejeune Water

Scientific and medical evidence has shown a number of health issues have been attributed to the toxic chemicals in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune and Marine Air Station New River  including:

Cancers linked to the contaminated Camp Lejeune water supply

• Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
• Brain Cancer
• Breast cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Central Nervous System Cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Colon Cancer/Colorectal Cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
• Kidney cancer
• Liver cancer
• Lung cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Leukemia
• Multiple myeloma
• Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
• Prostate Cancer
• Rectal Cancer
• Thyroid Cancer

Other diseases associated with Camp Lejeune water contamination

• Birth defects
• Miscarriage
• Female infertility
• Parkinson’s disease
• Renal Toxicity/Kidney Disease
• Kidney Damage
• Hepatic steatosis (fatty liver disease)
• Aplastic anemia
• Scleroderma
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Epilepsy (seizures)
• Immune Disorders
• Nerve Damage
• Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS or Pre-Leukemia)
• Neurobehavioral effects (tremors, lack of coordination, movement or motor problems or other symptoms consistent with undiagnosed Parkinson’s disease)

What are the symptoms of neurobehavioral effects from Camp Lejeune water?

Symptoms of neurobehavioral effects linked to toxic chemical exposure at Camp Lejeune may include:

• chronic headaches
• lack or loss of coordination
• bouts of extreme confusion
• sensory disturbances
• chronic depression
• impairment of visuomotor coordination

Is Parkinson’s disease related to Camp Lejeune water?

Yes, Parkinson’s disease is one of the neurological diseases linked to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune. If you were diagnosed with Parkinson’s after exposure to toxic water at Camp Lejeune you may be eligible to file a Camp Lejeune water lawsuit.

On March 14, 2023, a study was published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease, finding that individuals exposed to TCE may be at a 500% increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. It is estimated that millions of Marines, their families and civilians could be at risk of developing, or have already developed Parkinson’s disease from Camp Lejeune water.

PFAS Water Contamination Lawsuits

The lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. are also investigating PFAS water contamination lawsuits following recent discoveries that have identified more than 2,800 residential and military sites that are highly contaminated with PFAS chemicals released from firefighting foam run-off and manufacturing plants.

Similar to side effects outlined in firefighting foam lawsuits, individuals claim they have developed cancer and other diseases from years of exposure to toxic PFAS chemicals that leached into the soil and groundwater which contaminated public and private water supplies.

Cases are being pursued by residents who lived in communities surrounding PFAS manufacturers, such as 3M and Dupont, or in areas known to have high levels of PFAS contaminated water, such as military bases, airports and other training locations where toxic firefighting foam was heavily used since the 1960’s.

Camp Lejeune VA Benefit FAQs

Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Lawsuit FAQs

How do I file a claim for a Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit?