New court filing highlights documentation problems, a dispute over nearly 100 million pages of military records and competing proposals for resolving thousands of claims.
More than 95% of Camp Lejeune water contamination claims reviewed by the Navy lack sufficient documentation to qualify for approval under the government's expedited settlement program, according to a new federal court filing.
The figure appears in a 23-page joint status report filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The report provides an update on litigation under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, which allows people harmed by exposure to contaminated drinking water at the Marine Corps base to seek compensation from the federal government.
The disclosure comes as plaintiffs' attorneys and the Department of Justice remain divided over how nearly 100 million pages of military records can be used to help resolve claims.
The government says the Navy's Camp Lejeune Claims Unit continues to process administrative claims but is encountering widespread documentation problems.
"More than 95% of claims reviewed do not have sufficient documentary evidence to support Elective Option (EO) settlement approval," the report states.
The Elective Option was introduced in 2023 as a way to provide qualifying claimants with compensation without going through lengthy federal court proceedings. The program offers predetermined settlement amounts based on qualifying medical conditions and the length of exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. But claimants must provide documentation establishing both a qualifying diagnosis and their presence at the base during the period covered by the law.
According to the report, the Navy has issued notices identifying missing or insufficient evidence involving medical diagnoses, exposure histories and estate documentation, giving claimants an opportunity to address those deficiencies. The government says claims remain under administrative consideration until they are formally denied.
The 95% figure does not mean that 95% of all Camp Lejeune claims have been denied. It refers to the documentation available for Elective Option approval among claims reviewed by the Navy. The filing does not specify how many claims were included in that review.
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Nearly 100 million pages of military records at center of dispute
The documentation problems come amid an ongoing disagreement over how military records obtained through the litigation can be used.
The government confirms that the Marine Corps has provided plaintiffs' attorneys with nearly 100 million pages of digitized military records, delivered on five hard drives between May and August. The records were produced through an ongoing Marine Corps project to digitize microfilm, microfiche and paper documents.
Plaintiffs' attorneys say they have developed tools to search and analyze the records and want to use them not only in litigation but also to support administrative claims and efforts toward a broader settlement.
The Department of Justice has taken a narrower position.
According to the filing, government attorneys informed plaintiffs' counsel in September that they were authorized to negotiate the use of the records in litigation, but not their use in the administrative claims process or a global resolution.
On October 13, the Plaintiffs' Leadership Group filed a motion asking the court to allow reasonable use of the digitized records for all three purposes.
The disagreement has continued despite negotiations between the parties.
The issue could have significant implications for claimants who are trying to document their time at Camp Lejeune decades after their exposure.
Military personnel records, including muster rolls, may help establish whether someone was stationed at the base during the period covered by the law.
However, the filing does not establish how many claims with documentation deficiencies could be resolved through the digitized records, or whether the available records contain the evidence needed for individual claims.
The parties are expected to address their competing proposals during a court hearing scheduled for November 16.
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Government seeks additional proof from plaintiffs
The new report also confirms that the federal government and plaintiffs' attorneys remain divided over how to manage the growing number of Camp Lejeune claims.
On October 23, the Justice Department filed a motion seeking what is known as a Lone Pine order. Such orders are used in some complex civil lawsuits to require plaintiffs to provide specified evidence supporting their claims before litigation proceeds further.
The government's proposal would require certain new and existing Camp Lejeune plaintiffs to submit threshold documentation and expert evidence supporting their claims. The Justice Department argues that the requirements would help determine which claims have adequate supporting evidence and make the litigation more manageable.
But the Plaintiffs' Leadership Group filed an opposition on October 28, challenging the timing and burden of the proposed requirements. Plaintiffs' attorneys argue that requiring individualized proof and potentially costly expert reports at this stage could substantially increase litigation expenses and delay resolution for people already waiting years for compensation.
The dispute is not simply over whether plaintiffs must prove their claims. Both sides recognize that evidence is required. The disagreement centers on when that evidence must be produced, how much should be required and whether the proposed process would help move claims toward resolution or create additional obstacles.
The government's reply to the plaintiffs' opposition is due November 12.
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Plaintiffs propose a census of Camp Lejeune claims
Plaintiffs' attorneys have proposed a different approach to organizing the litigation.
Also on October 23, the Plaintiffs' Leadership Group filed a motion asking the court to require attorneys handling Camp Lejeune claims to submit information about their cases through a centralized system. The proposed census would include claims pending in federal court and those still in the administrative process. Plaintiffs' attorneys say the information could help identify the number and types of claims, organize them by relevant characteristics and support broader settlement discussions.
The government's response to the census proposal is due November 13.
The competing motions reflect different approaches to managing the litigation: the government is seeking additional evidence from individual claimants, while plaintiffs' attorneys are seeking a more comprehensive picture of the claims awaiting resolution.
Both proposals remain subject to court review.
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First trials underway, thousands of lawsuits pending
The November 9 status report also provides an update on the federal court cases.
As of November 6, a total of 3,802 Camp Lejeune Justice Act lawsuits had been filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina. Of those, 196 had been dismissed, including 170 voluntary dismissals and 26 involuntary dismissals. That leaves 3,606 cases that had not been dismissed as of the reporting date.
The federal lawsuits represent only a fraction of the more than 400,000 administrative claims filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.
The litigation has also reached a historic milestone with the beginning of the first individual trials. The first trial, involving kidney cancer claimant Frank Mousser, began October 26 before U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle. The trial concluded October 29 without an immediate ruling from the bench.
The trial for another kidney cancer claimant, David Fancher, began on Monday.
Meanwhile, four bladder cancer cases are moving toward trial preparation, with preliminary pretrial conferences scheduled for January 21, 2027, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Myers.
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Questions remain about a broader settlement
The latest developments come as the court continues encouraging the parties to work toward a broader resolution of the Camp Lejeune litigation. The judges previously requested that the parties make their best efforts toward developing a global settlement framework by October 30.
The November 9 status report does not provide a clear update on the outcome of that deadline or announce an agreement on a comprehensive settlement. Instead, the filing documents continuing disagreements over evidence requirements, access to military records and how claims should be organized for resolution.
For people who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune and later developed serious illnesses, those disputes have practical consequences.
The Elective Option was intended to provide a faster route to compensation for qualifying claimants. But the government's latest figures indicate that documentation remains a major barrier to approval. At the same time, the parties have not resolved whether military records already produced in the litigation can be used to help substantiate administrative claims.
With additional court filings due this week and another hearing scheduled for November 16, the judges will be considering questions that could shape how thousands of remaining claims move forward.
The central issue remains how to establish eligibility, evaluate evidence and compensate people who say they were harmed by contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune without prolonging a legal process that has already taken years.
