About 5,000 Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Injury Claims Already Filed Since New Law Enacted Last Month

Some estimates suggest that as many as 500,000 Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuits will ultimately be filed before August 2024 deadline

During the first month after new landmark legislation went into effect for toxic military exposures, the U.S. government has already received about 5,000 Camp Lejeune water contamination claims submitted by veterans, military family members and others injured by contaminants that impacted the Marine base between 1953 and 1987. However, the filings represent just the tip of an iceberg, which is expected to become the largest mass tort litigation in U.S. history.

The claims are being presented under the new Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, which provides a two-year period for individuals who developed cancer and other injuries after exposure to the contaminated water to file lawsuits against the U.S. government, and pursue Camp Lejeune settlement benefits that have been denied for decades.

Prior to filing a lawsuit in court, each claim must be submitted to the U.S. Navy through an administrative process, which started to flood in immediately after President Biden signed the new law on August 10, 2022.

This week, the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps reports that it has already received notice of about 5,000 administrative claims. However, it is widely expected that hundreds of thousands of cases will ultimately be presented over the next two years by individuals who have been diagnosed with various cancers Parkinson’s disease and other side effects linked to Camp Lejeune water.

More than a million Marines and their family members were exposured to contaminated Camp Lejeune water between the early 1950s and late 1980s, with some estimates suggesting that toxic chemicals from Camp Lejeune may be responsible for more than 50,000 cases of breast cancer, 28,000 cases of bladder cancer, and 24,000 cases of renal cancer, as well as thousands of cases involve Parkinson’s disease and other health complications. It is also believed that Camp Lejeune water caused birth defects and wrongful death for thousands of unborn children exposed in utero.

For months before the law went into effect, Camp Lejeune toxic water lawyers were investigating potential claims, and preparing to present claims by gathering evidence to document that specific injuries that can be linked to chemicals found on the base, including various birth defects, cancers, lymphoma, Parkinson’s disease, kidney damage, fertility problems and other conditions.

How to File Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Claims

Last month, the U.S. Navy JAG website provided information about how to file a Camp Lejeune water contamination claim, which starts with filing an administrative claim form that documents when each individual was exposed to water at the Marine base, the nature of their injury and a stated dollar amount that would be accepted as a Camp Lejeune Justice Act settlement.

Prior to filing a lawsuit in court, each claim must be formally denied in writing, or six months must pass after the administrative claim is submitted. Then a complaint can be brought in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, which has been granted exclusive jurisdiction in the litigation.

Out of the thousands of claims presented, only a handful of Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuits and class action claims have already been formally brought in the court system. However, that is expected to change quickly, once the six month waiting period for the earliest filed administrative claims expires in early February 2023.