Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Drinking Water Contamination

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Claims

Any individual – including U.S. Military Veterans and their families – who served, worked, or resided at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., between 1953 and 1987 may have come into contact with contaminated drinking water linked to severe medical conditions, and may be eligible for health benefits and disability compensation.

In the early 1980s, two water-supply systems at Camp Lejeune were found to be contaminated with chemicals known as “volatile organic compounds.” These chemicals – such as Trichloroethylene (a metal cleaner), Tetrachloroethylene (a dry cleaning agent), Benzene (a chemical often used in gasoline), Methylene chloride (a chemical solvent used in labs and to remove paint), and Vinyl chloride (a colorless gas used to make polyvinyl chloride and plastic products) – were found to have been in the drinking water.

Potentially a million military members, military staff, and military family members, and other individuals at Camp Lejeune were exposed to the chemicals in this contaminated water according to the (CDC).

Legal Remedies

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 is a bipartisan bill intended to ensure individuals harmed by water contamination at Camp Lejeune receive fair compensation. The bill contains a specific section dedicated to the events at Camp Lejeune, has set a new statute of limitations, removed traditional US Government immunity defenses, and will allow individuals affected by the contaminated water for at least 30 days to sue and recover damages.

The Bill is making its way through Congress as part of the Honoring Our PACT Act of 2022, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on March 4, 2022, and the U.S. Senate on June 16, 2022. The bill is now going through the reconciliation process before being passed onto President Biden to sign the bill into law. The Act will permit people who worked, lived, or were exposed in-utero, to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987, to file a lawsuit in U.S. federal court.