The Moody Law Firm is investigating claims of injuries from toxic chemicals in water at the Marine Corps Camp Lejeune. From the 1950s through the 1980s, people living and working at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were exposed to drinking water that contained dangerous industrial solvents, benzene, and other chemicals. In some cases, the tainted water had 3,400 times the level of contaminants allowed by the established safety standards. These chemicals can cause cancers, miscarriages and other serious medical conditions, including birth defects and illnesses in children who were in utero when their mothers were exposed to the contaminated water. Nearly a million people—veterans, spouses, children and civilians on base — were exposed. Documents show that the problem was discovered in the 1980s but government officials allowed our military, their families, and civilian employees to be exposed for another seven years thereafter as the discovery was covered up and kept a secret.
The bipartisan Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in March, 2022 and by the U.S. Senate on August 2, 2022. It was signed into law by President Biden on August 10, 2022. This law addresses unfair legal barriers that currently block lawsuits against the government for these injuries. Those who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953 – December 31, 1987, are able to file a claim for damages related to the illnesses they developed from the contaminated water.
Injuries suffered by those at Camp Lejeune include the following:
- Leukemia (all types)
- Aplastic Anemia and Other Myelodysplastic Syndromes
- Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
- Multiple myeloma
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Bladder Cancer
- Kidney Cancer
- Esophageal Cancer
- Liver Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Breast Cancer
- Hepatic steatosis
- Renal Toxicity
- Female Infertility
- Miscarriage
- Neurobehavioral Effects (ADHD, OCD, Autism, Tourette’s Syndrome)
- Scleroderma (Systemic Sclerosis)
- Hepatic Steatosis (Fatty Liver Disease)
Plaintiffs would need to prove a relationship between the water at Camp Lejeune and the harm they suffered in order to sue the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and would have two years from the bill’s enactment to file their claims in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Justice for victims of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune is long overdue. If you served, lived or worked on the Camp Lejeune base for at least 30 days between 1953 and 1987, and have any of the injuries listed above, please contact us at 800-793-4816 for a free consultation. You are eligible to speak with us no matter what state you live in.
