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Camp Lejeune Lawsuits

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Between 1957 and 1987, the water supply at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina, was contaminated with harmful chemicals at exceedingly high levels. Studies have demonstrated that exposure to this contaminated water while residing or working at Camp Lejeune led to the development of cancer, birth defects, and various health issues for numerous individuals. Unfortunately, North Carolina law has prevented these Camp Lejeune victims from pursuing legal action. However, the U.S. Senate is on the verge of passing a new federal law that will allow victims of water contamination at Camp Lejeune to file claims and receive financial compensation.

Our nationwide team of mass tort attorneys is now open to taking on new cases related to Camp Lejeune water contamination. We are specifically seeking victims who resided or worked at the base between 1957 and 1987 and subsequently received diagnoses such as leukemia, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, anemia, or other myelodysplastic syndromes.

Toxic Water at Camp Lejeune Base

Camp Lejeune, a vast military base and operational training center under the Marine Corps, has been operational since 1942. Spanning an expansive 250 square miles in Onslow County, North Carolina, the base includes multiple satellite facilities.

It serves as the primary residence for numerous Marine Corps commands, including the II Marine Expeditionary Force, and has been utilized for military training exercises by various branches of the armed forces. Over the years, Camp Lejeune has been both home and workplace for hundreds of thousands of individuals.

During the 1980s, the Marine Corps conducted tests on the two main water treatment facilities that had supplied water to the Camp Lejeune base since the early 1950s. These tests revealed alarmingly high levels of chemicals in Camp Lejeune’s water supply, known for their toxicity to humans and their linkage to cancer.

Further analysis from the Marine Corps revealed that the water supply at Camp Lejeune had been contaminated with these toxic chemicals since the 1950s. The contamination period for both treatment facilities extended from 1953 to 1987. It’s estimated that approximately 750,000 individuals living or working on the base were exposed to this contaminated water over the course of 40 years.

Chemicals in Camp Lejeune Water Supply

The water supply at Camp Lejeune from the 1950s to the 1980s was contaminated with 2 specific chemicals: Perchloroethylene (PCE) and Trichloroethylene (TCE). Each of these chemicals were discovered at alarmingly high levels in two distinct water treatment plants that served the base: the Hadnot Point treatment plant and the Tarawa Terrace water plant.

The contamination by TCE occurred within the Hadnot Point water treatment facility. TCE, a colorless and odorless liquid chemical, found wide use in various industrial applications. For years, the U.S. military commonly employed TCE as a solvent and degreaser for cleaning large metal weaponry and equipment. It was also utilized in the production of refrigerants.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established the maximum safe level of TCE in drinking water at 5 parts per billion (ppb). Shockingly, the water sourced from the Hadnot Point plant registered TCE levels as high as 1,400 ppb. The contamination with TCE at the Hadnot Point plant spanned from 1953 to 1985.

On the other hand, the contamination by PCE was identified in the Tarawa Terrace water treatment plant at Camp Lejeune. PCE, a clear liquid with a faint odor, is primarily utilized as a fabric solvent in the commercial dry-cleaning industry. The PCE contamination at the Tarawa plant was traced back to the ABC One-Hour Cleaners, a nearby dry-cleaning business.

The EPA has established the maximum safe level for PCE in drinking water at 5 ppb. The water from the Tarawa treatment plant that supplied Camp Lejeune was discovered to contain PCE levels as high as 215 ppb, which is 43 times the established safe limit. It was later determined that the PCE contamination at the Tarawa plant persisted from November 1957 to February 1985, when the supply wells were eventually shut down.

Cancers Linked to Camp Lejeune Water

The substances present in the Camp Lejeune water supply for four decades are widely recognized for their severe harm to the human body and their association with certain types of cancer, neurological disorders, and birth defects. Extensive medical research has confirmed that extended exposure to TCE and PCE is correlated with elevated instances of particular cancers.

The types of cancer that have been scientifically linked to the consumption of harmful chemicals contaminating the water at Camp Lejeune include:

New Law Allows Victims of Camp Lejeune Water to Get Compensation

In August 2022, Congress passed a new federal law called the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (“CLJA”). The CLJA gives victims of the Camp Lejeune water contamination the ability to file civil lawsuits against the government and seek financial compensation for injuries caused by the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.

Since the CLJA was passed, over a hundred thousand CLJA administrative claims have been filed with the Navy and over 1,000 of these claims have turned into civil lawsuits.