Lawyers representing some of the victims harmed by decades of toxic water aboard Camp Lejeune said there are signs that there may finally be a serious push toward resolution.
Attorneys with Zois and Miller said settlement mediations are on track, at least for the first 25 cases that were chosen as the first to be mediated – they are grouped by injury type, including bladder and kidney cancer, Parkinson’s, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and leukemias.
The mediations are now scheduled to begin in late July and conclude by late August.
Although they are a small percentage of the overall cases, lawyers said they should help shape a larger settlement matrix and they called in, “A meaningful development.”
That matrix would help standardize offers across thousands of claims based on injury type, exposure history, and other factors.
From 1952 to 1987, the drinking water at the base was contaminated with toxic chemicals, primarily industrial solvents like trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE). Many of the people exposed to the hazardous substances have suffered a variety of illnesses and long-term health problems.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, passed as part of the Honoring our PACT Act, gave veterans, family members, and civilian workers who were exposed to the toxic water between 1953 and 1987 a two-year window to file lawsuits against the U.S. government for damages. That window closed last August.
About 2,900 lawsuits are pending in the Eastern District of North Carolina, and the Navy is managing over 400,000 administrative claims.
