Camp Lejeune Water Contamination | What You Need to Know
What happened at Camp Lejeune?
Camp Lejeune has been in the news for years, for an unfortunate reason: its contaminated water. The active military base, located in North Carolina, had dangerously polluted water for decades. Between 1953 and 1987, military personnel and their families stationed at Camp Lejeune drank, cooked with, and bathed in water laced with toxic chemicals, including benzene, vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene, and perchloroethylene. As a result of this exposure, many people who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune have suffered from, or are at an increased risk of suffering from, serious illnesses likely caused by their exposure to these toxins in the water.
If you or your family members served at Camp Lejeune during this time, it’s important to know the facts about the water contamination, your potential health risks, and the help that is available.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act, recently signed into law, allows military service members, their families, and other civilians harmed by exposure to the water at Camp Lejeune to seek compensation for their injuries. Though overdue, this law finally allows Camp Lejeune water contamination victims to seek the justice they deserve.
What was in the water at Camp Lejeune?
The Camp Lejeune water supply was highly contaminated from at least 1953 through 1987. A number of sources caused the pollution, including waste disposal from a local dry cleaner, leaking underground storage tanks, and industrial spills. Hundreds of thousands of military personnel and their families were exposed to toxic chemicals including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other carcinogens, including perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride, and many have suffered severe injuries as a result. The chemicals found in the water at Camp Lejeune have been linked to serious illness, including various types of cancer, and even death.
In 1989, because the contamination levels were so high, the EPA designated Camp Lejeune as a Superfund site and added it to the National Priorities List of known releases of hazardous substances.
What is the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022?
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 was recently signed into law by President Biden as part of the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022. The new law allows individuals harmed by exposure to the water at Camp Lejeune to seek compensation for their injuries.
Please note that there is a 2-year time period to file a Camp Lejeune lawsuit, which ends on August 9, 2024. If you believe you may have a claim, you should reach out to an attorney immediately. Do not wait until the deadline to file claims.
Am I eligible for compensation?
The Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, which allows those who have been affected by the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune to seek compensation for their injuries, is quite broad.
To initially qualify to file a lawsuit, a person:
- must have lived, worked, or served at Camp Lejeune between August 1, 1953 and December 12, 1987, for a minimum period of 30 days;
- must have been exposed to the contaminated water and suffered a harm as a result of the exposure.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has published a list of conditions that are most strongly linked to exposure to chemicals in the water at Camp Lejeune. Those injuries are:
- Adult leukemia
- Aplastic anemia
- Bladder cancer
- Breast cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Female infertility
- Hepatic steatosis
- Kidney cancer
- Leukemia
- Liver cancer
- Lung cancer
- Miscarriage
- Multiple myeloma
- Myelodysplastic syndromes
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Neurobehavioral effects
- Parkinson’s disease
- Renal toxicity
- Scleroderma
If you were diagnosed with one of these injures, or another illness or injury, after living, serving, or working at Camp Lejeune, we strongly recommend you speak to a lawyer immediately.
It’s important to remember that even if you pursue a lawsuit, there is no guarantee that you will receive compensation. You will need to prove your exposure and that your exposure to the water at Camp Lejeune caused your injury.
To improve your chance of getting the compensation you need and deserve, we strongly recommend you hire an attorney to help with your Camp Lejeune lawsuit. Chemical exposure cases are complex and require significant legal, scientific, and medical expertise. An experienced chemical exposure and toxic tort attorney will be able to help you navigate through the complex legal process and will give you the best chance at a successful resolution of your case.