How Is a Camp Lejeune Lawsuit Filed and What is the PACT Act? Camp Lejeune is a huge Marine Corps base in North Carolina that defends our country. Unfortunately, between 1953 and 1987, those who lived and worked on the base were exposed to toxic water. The families of Marines who lived on the base—including pregnant women—drank the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The water was found to be contaminated with PCE, TCE, benzene, and other harmful chemicals.
A study known as the ATSDR found that not only were certain cancer risks much higher among those who were exposed to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune, but birth defect rates for women residing at Camp Lejeune were significantly higher, including neural tube birth defects and spina bifida at nearly 5 times higher than the normal rate. The Camp Lejeune water contamination was first discovered in 1980 when new EPA regulations were enacted, requiring that the military test the water.
Although the military found that the water was contaminated, they did nothing about it for two years until 1982 when Grainger Laboratories was contracted to perform extensive testing on the water, finding it was heavily contaminated. The VA Department found that exposure as short as 30 continuous days could have caused adverse results in the form of certain types of cancers as well as leukemia, scleroderma, Parkinson’s disease, infertility and miscarriage, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and other diseases.
It is estimated that between 750,000 and one million people were exposed to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune—some for much longer periods of time than others. Lawsuits were filed in an MDL with about 850 plaintiffs. Unfortunately, those lawsuits were dismissed with the state of North Carolina citing the state’s ten-year statute of repose. This 2016 lawsuit dismissal created outrage among the public, so a new federal law was proposed in Congress, known as the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA).
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act circumvented the ten-year NC statute of repose, allowing victims who had been exposed to Camp Lejeune toxic contaminants for a minimum of 30 days to file lawsuits. The CLJA was then combined with a separate bill known as Honoring Our Pact Act (The PACT Act). The goal of the PACT Act is to provide supplementary rights, resources, and healthcare benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxins while in the military. The PACT Act was signed into law by the President on August 10, 2022. This Act allows the many victims of Camp Lejeune contaminated water the right to file a North Carolina federal court civil lawsuit. Claimants only have two years from the date the CLJA/PACT Act was enacted in which to file a lawsuit.
Filing a claim under the PACT Act requires proof of Camp Lejeune toxic water exposure between 1953 and 1987, as well as the development of a type of cancer or another health condition that has been definitively linked to Camp Lejeune’s water contamination. If you are able to meet the requirements, you may be entitled to receive damages for your injuries. These damages may include past and future medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. If you are already receiving VA benefits for your Camp Lejeune injuries, then any amount awarded to you in a Camp Lejeune lawsuit will be reduced by the amount you have received from the VA. Wrongful death claimants may be awarded medical expenses, lost earnings from the decedent, loss of the decedent’s services and companionship, funeral expenses, and more.
What Are the Requirements for Filing a Camp Lejeune Lawsuit? It is believed that the primary injuries associated with Camp Lejeune contaminated water will be liver cancer, kidney cancer, lymphoma, and leukemia. Those who qualify can pursue their Camp Lejeune tort claim in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Before you can file your lawsuit, you must go through what is known as the administrative claim process.
This means the claim must be submitted to the Department of Navy or JAG. The agency then has six months after your claim is submitted to deny the claim—allowing you to file a federal lawsuit—or to accept the claim, which would result in a settlement. It is expected that the CLJA administrative claim may function more like a settlement mediation process, sending claims through an initial screening process. At that point, a “reasonable” settlement amount might be offered prior to the six-month expiration period.
This means the possibility exists that many Camp Lejeune claims may end up settling during the administrative claim process prior to the filing of civil lawsuits. Victims exposed to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune were meant to be compensated under the language and intent of the PACT Act. Since our current president supports veteran compensation for injuries, it is expected that the process will go fairly smoothly.
Essentially, you may be eligible to file a Camp Lejeune claim for your own injuries or a wrongful death and survival action claim for the loss of a loved one. Former employees or residents of Camp Lejeune who died as a result of injuries associated with the toxic water at Camp Lejeune. A wrongful death claim and a survivorship claim are two different types of tort claims that can potentially be brought by a personal representative of the estate of the decedent.
North Carolina law only allows the decedent’s estate to bring this type of claim. This means the personal representative of the decedent’s estate brings the wrongful death claim, then distributes the settlement amount among the decedent’s heirs. Medical expenses, lost earnings of the decedent, loss of the decedent’s services and companionship, pain and mental suffering, and funeral expenses can all be a part of a Camp Lejeune wrongful death claim.
A survival action, on the other hand, is a separate type of claim. When a person has filed a personal injury claim for damages, then that person dies before the claim is settled, it is known as a survival claim. Under North Carolina statutes, survivor actions may only be brought by a personal representative of the estate of the decedent.
What is unclear at this point is whether victims will be required to open up an estate in NC to bring a Camp Lejeune lawsuit. It is important that you speak to a highly knowledgeable attorney if you are planning on bringing a wrongful death or survival action following the death of a loved one. Contacting an experienced Camp Lejeune lawyer if you are considering filing a Camp Lejeune lawsuit can be extremely beneficial to your future. The contaminated water supply law firm of Sullo & Sullo can help ensure you receive what you are entitled to receive, whether from the VA or the Federal government.
How Much Money Has Been Set Aside for Camp Lejeune Injuries? If you or a loved one suffered injury from the Camp Lejeune water contamination, it is important that you file your claim soon. Camp Lejeune victims will have until August 10th, 2024, to bring a civil lawsuit under the PACT Act. The Marines, their families, and employees at Camp Lejeune drank and bathed in contaminated water that was filled with more than 70 chemicals and toxins. The levels of these chemicals and toxins were from 240 to 3,400 times the amount permitted by EPA safety standards.
The Congressional Budget Office examined the Act to provide a formal estimate of the cost over the next ten years. The cost estimate for the PACT Act is estimated to be $667 billion, however, the Camp Lejeune payouts comprise only 1 percent of that amount, or $6.7 billion. The average settlement amounts for Camp Lejeune victims are estimated to be between $175,000 and $350,000, although Parkinson’s disease settlements could be higher. That being said, there could potentially be a range of settlements ranging from $25,000 to over $1 million, depending on the level of harm.
The Department of Veteran’s Affairs has committed $2 billion in disability benefits, $350 million for healthcare, and $75 million for benefits to family members of veterans who died as a result of toxic water at Camp Lejeune. One of the first cases to be settled under the VA program is that of a service member harmed by the Camp Lejeune water contamination problems. This Marine veteran received VA benefits in the amount of $100,000 for injuries due to Camp Lejeune toxic water injuries.
The Marine was diagnosed with kidney cancer after being exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. VA benefits under the healthcare portion include medical treatment payments, medications, and specific other health services. In 2021, a veteran who worked at Camp Lejeune in the 1980s and was later diagnosed with bladder cancer received benefits in the amount of $1.1 million from the VA. This veteran worked at Camp Lejeune for six years and was exposed to the toxic water the entire time. Whether you want to pursue VA benefits or file a lawsuit against the federal government for your Camp Lejeune injuries—or both—it is important that you have a strong legal advocate by your side.