Thousands of families now have another avenue of recovery with the signing of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022. This new law allows those who suffered from exposure to toxic water to pursue legal action.
For those that lived or worked at Camp Lejeune there were substantial issues with toxic Fiefighting Foam which could cause Cancer. There are concentrations of PFOS, a subclass of PFAS, found on Camp Lejeune. It could take years to unravel the extent of the exposure but we are investigating claim against the Manufacturers of the “toxic foam”(Forever chemicals) which pollutes water and air possibly causing increased likelihood of Cancer. We are handling these claims in the AFFF National litigation.
Selinger Law has experience representing thousands of military families in both anti-terrorism litigation as well as the 3M defective earplug lawsuits. Now, Selinger Law is representing victims of toxic water at Camp Lejeune.
Water Contamination At Camp Lejeune
The Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina was established in 1942. Forty years later, the Marine Corps determined that two of the water treatment facilities providing water to the base had been contaminated with volatile organic compounds.
Specifically, the Tarawa Terrace treatment plant was contaminated with PCE (perchloroethylene or tetrachloroethylene). The EPA maximum containment level of this organic compound is 5 parts per billion(ppb) in drinking water. The maximum level of contamination at Tarawa Terrace was 215 ppb.
It was determined that the water had been contaminated for a total of 346 months by a nearby off-base dry cleaning company.
The other treatment plant, Hadnot Point, was contaminated with TCE (trichloroethylene). The current EPA approval for TCE in drinking water is 5 ppb. At its highest point, the contamination at Hadnot Point was measured at 1,400 ppb. Multiple sources of contamination are believed to have caused this, including storage tank leaks, industrial spills, and inappropriate water disposal practices.
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Veterans From Camp Lejeune Suffer Devastating Side Effects
For more than three decades, the residents who lived on base were exposed to high levels of PCE and TCE. Exposure to these chemicals has been known to cause diseases and medical disorders including:
- leukemia
- Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
- Parkinson's disease
- Bladder cancer
- Breast cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- MS
- Other Cancer except Skin
- Female infertility
- Hepatic steatosis
- Kidney cancer
- Leukemia
- Lung cancer
- Miscarriage
- Multiple myeloma
- Myelodysplastic syndromes
- Neurobehavioral effects
- lymphoma
- Renal toxicity
- Scleroderma
- ALS
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) started a study in 2003, publishing its findings in 2013. The findings showed that children born to mothers who drank contaminated water at Camp Lejeune were four times more likely to be born with a birth defect.
Update: On September 6, 2023 a tiered settlement program for Camp Lejeune victims was announced. This is the first step toward possible global resolution of many Camp Lejeune claims.
It is provided that within the framework, the DON can make settlement offers to qualifying claimants with diseases that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has determined are linked to the chemicals found in the water at Camp Lejeune. Award amounts are tiered, largely based on the ATSDR’s classification of the strength of the evidence linking the contamination with a particular disease and the amount of time the individual spent at Camp Lejeune.
Tier 1 Diagnoses: Claimants with diseases for which the ATSDR has substantiated evidence of causation – kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia and bladder cancer – would receive settlement offers of $450,000, $300,000 or $150,000, depending on whether the claimant was exposed to Camp Lejeune water for over five years, between one and five years or between 30 and 364 days, respectively.
Tier 2 Diagnoses: Claimants with diseases to which the ATSDR has linked possible evidence of causation – multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease, kidney disease (end stage renal disease), systemic sclerosis/systemic scleroderma – would receive settlement offers of $400,000, $250,000, or $100,000, depending on whether the claimant was exposed to Camp Lejeune water for over five years, between one and five years or between 30 and 364 days, respectively.
Claims involving death would receive an additional $100,000.
If you or a loved one were stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987, you may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit. Selinger Law will assist families of deceased, Veterans and current military personnel, their families, employees and unborn children who were present at Camp Lejeune between August 1953 and December 1987. Contact us today.
There is limited time to file your claim, don't delay!