A group of four federal judges who are overseeing the claims lawsuits connected to Camp Lejeune water contamination have determined that two settlement masters are necessary to help speed up the slow claim resolution process.
In August 2022, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act went into effect, providing a two-year filing window for people who lived, served or worked aboard the base from the mid-1950s to late 1980s to sue for compensation for certain cancers and other illnesses linked to toxic chemicals that contaminated the water supply.
Despite the introduction of a settlement option that was announced last September, only a small number of claims have been successfully resolved.
U.S. District judges assigned two settlement masters to work with the parties to resolve the litigation. They will help facilitate settlement discussions, but do not have the power to adjudicate any issues impacting the litigation.
Meanwhile, court documents show that 1,851 lawsuits have been filed connected to decades of toxic water aboard Camp Lejeune.
Administrative claims also continue to surge. With an August 10 filing deadline under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, more than 24,000 additional claims have been filed over the past two weeks, bringing the total to more than 285,000.
According to the latest joint status report, there are also 93 Camp Lejeune cases currently in litigation that qualify for the government’s elective early settlement program.
So far, 37 have accepted early settlement offers, with payouts ranging from $100,000 to $450,000. In nine cases, the elective settlement offers have been rejected, while 26 are still pending.
Outside of the program, the government has made settlement offers to 111 people after verifying their claims. 58 of these settlement offers have been accepted, and 3 have been rejected.
Payments totaling just over $20 million have already been sent out to 81 – an average of about $246,000 per plaintiff. Bladder cancer claims have had the highest average per claim.
