First Lawsuits Filed against Camp Lejeune Contamination

The first of what undoubtedly will be hundreds more lawsuits involving military base Camp Lejeune have been filed. The first wave of lawsuits, totaling more than 100, have been filed by U.S. military veterans and their families in a North Carolina federal court.

In the first week of March, 22 victims of Camp Lejeune water contamination filed lawsuits against the government. These March lawsuits bring the number of total lawsuits pending in the Eastern District of North Carolina to 179. The lawsuits come after the expiration of a waiting period that was established by the U.S. federal government last summer.

Between 1953 and 1987 servicemen and women, their families, and staff who lived at Camp Lejeune detail being exposed to contaminated water that would later result in a variety of health issues. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that as many as one million people were exposed to contaminated water.

Victims who suffered from the contamination experienced health complications including adult leukemia, bladder cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer, non-hodgkin's lymphoma, parkinson's disease, and multiple myeloma, among other health issues.

In August 2022, President Biden passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. Under this act, military veterans and their family members who suffered because of the contamination were allowed to file a civil lawsuit against the US government. Previously, victims were unable to take legal action because of a North Carolina law known as a “statute of repose.” Under this type of law, civil tort lawsuits cannot be filed against the government after ten years even If plaintiffs could not have known that they were the victims of water contamination during that time.

Because of the statute of repose, victims of Camp Lejeune contamination were never able to seek legal action against the U.S. government. Over the years there have been federal government interventions to help support victims. One such intervention was the 2012 Janey Ensminger Act. The Act allowed the U.S. government to pay the medical costs of victims by establishing a presumption that certain illnesses experienced from Camp Lejeune were “service-connected.” However, the family members of military men and women were excluded.

After passing the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, victims found a path to restitution for their suffering. Under the act, victims had to file their claims via an administrative process before filing a federal lawsuit in the Eastern District of North Carolina. If a plaintiff did not want to pursue the administrative process of the Navy’s Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG), they had to wait six months before filing their federal lawsuit.

The first wave of lawsuits Is the result of that six-month waiting period expiring. The 179 currently filed lawsuits are a sliver of the thousands more that are expected to follow. There are currently 20,000 claims made by veterans or their family members being processed by the JAG, none of which have yet to be decided.

Poulin, Willey, and Anastopoulo Law Firm claimed to be the first firm to file a class action lawsuit against Camp Lejune in mid-February. This is the same law firm that claims to have been the first to file an administrative claim on behalf of victims last year.

Paul Doolittle, Class Action and Mass Tort Director of the firm, shared with local outlet WITN, “This was not something God intended. This is something that came about as an act of just contaminated water so it’s a privilege and honor to be able to represent those individuals.”

As victims have now been given the green light to sue, and as the first lawsuits begin to trickle forward, victims are still recovering from the contamination. In the meantime initiatives like the Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 seek to support service men and women and their families. The act enables veterans to qualify for disability benefits all while providing some financial relief for family members who suffered because of the contamination.