Veterans and families exposed to toxic water at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, are still awaiting compensation for related health conditions. Researchers have linked many serious health conditions to toxic water at the base, including many forms of cancer, cardiovascular and liver diseases, infertility, miscarriage, and birth defects.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 entitled service members and civilians residing at the military base from 1953 to 1987 to seek compensation from the Department of the Navy for exposure-related illnesses.
Marine veteran Jeff Byron has spent years researching health problems suffered by his own family – one in particular who visited a Camp Lejeune doctor 57 times in two years. His research eventually led him to Washington, D.C., nearly two decades ago to speak with lawmakers about the growing health concerns stemming from the military base.
Byron had hoped the discussions would lead to government action but says it has been an uphill battle since the beginning. He believes lawmakers have been aware that wells on the military base contained toxic chemicals for decades but failed to notify service members and families of their potential exposure. At the time, Byron said, the only notices people received were through local and, eventually, national news coverage.
In recent years, television, radio, and internet advertisements about the government offering settlements for service members and their families stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 are everywhere.
Attorney Matthew Metzger, Esq. of Wolterman Law Office represents clients suffering health conditions from exposure at Camp Lejeune. He believes television commercials about the Camp Lejeune settlements are how some families have learned about the matter, although many have never been officially notified of their potential exposure.
More than 117,000 claims are pending with the U.S. Navy, along with 1,300 lawsuits filed in the Eastern District Court of North Carolina, with more expected. The deadline under the Justice Act is August 10, 2024. The first trials are scheduled to begin in March 2024.
In September, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Navy introduced the Elective Option, designed to streamline the compensation timeline with expedited payouts. Settlements range from $100,000 to $550,000 depending on the claimant’s illness, date of diagnosis, and exposure of five or more years. However, Metzger points out that in typical military service, servicemembers are rarely stationed on one base that long.
The first three Elective Option payouts, totaling $850,000, were issued on October 30, more than a year after the Justice Act was enacted. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 23 additional families have been offered settlements, and the government is awaiting their responses.
Recent court filings, however, reveal that the requested compensation far exceeds what the government plans to pay. Roughly $3.3 trillion has been demanded to resolve currently filed claims, but the Congressional Budget Office predicts the government will pay approximately $21 billion.
If you lived or worked at Camp Lejeune and have been diagnosed with a health condition, call Wolterman Law Office today at 513-488-1135 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation. Located in Loveland, Ohio, we serve clients in Hamilton County, Fairfield, Norwood, and Forest Park.