Camp Lejeune Justice Act
It’s been more than 40 years since the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was found to be contaminated by industrial solvents and other chemicals the CDC found -- in animal studies -- can cause cancers and other illnesses after long-term exposure.
More than a million people may have been exposed, but even after a law was passed allowing them to sue the federal government for damages, very few of the more than 400,000 claims filed have moved forward.
Public Radio East News Director Annette Weston has covered the litigation made possible under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act since 2022. In 2026, Public Radio East won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage of the victims' journey for justice.
More than a million people may have been exposed, but even after a law was passed allowing them to sue the federal government for damages, very few of the more than 400,000 claims filed have moved forward.
Public Radio East News Director Annette Weston has covered the litigation made possible under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act since 2022. In 2026, Public Radio East won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage of the victims' journey for justice.
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The historic first trial comes as plaintiffs propose a 25-condition framework for broader settlement negotiations -
After Trump linked Camp Lejeune water contamination settlements to the midterms, advocates, Gov. Josh Stein, Congresswoman Deborah Ross, and others question the political pledge as thousands await resolution. Advocates say justice should not depend on politics. -
"If we don't win, there's no money," President Donald Trump said. "If we do win, you're getting it. It's gonna be finally over with that nightmare that's been going on for so many years. We will never abandon the heroes who served America." -
A federal court has dismissed an effort by claimants to challenge how the government calculates Camp Lejeune toxic water settlement offers, as a new status report reveals that more than 75% of reviewed claims lack sufficient documentation. -
Federal judge schedules the first Camp Lejeune toxic water lawsuits for trial this November in Elizabeth City, NC, sparking a high-stakes battle over cancer science. -
Attorney James Foster files an emergency motion accusing the Department of Justice of shortchanging Camp Lejeune victims and slashing settlement review deadlines.
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Camp Lejeune toxic water victims launch a two-day rally at the U.S. Capitol, demanding the government honor its contract and end years of legal delays. -
Camp Lejeune toxic water victims and grieving families are launching a third mass rally at the U.S. Capitol next week, demanding lawmakers pass a crucial legislative fix to clear a massive backlog of stalled lawsuits. -
Camp Lejeune toxic water victims and grieving families are launching a third mass rally at the U.S. Capitol next week, demanding lawmakers pass a crucial legislative fix to clear a massive backlog of stalled lawsuits.
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Jeanette Vitullo’s connection to Camp Lejeune began in the mid-1970s, before she was even born. She belongs to a vulnerable group of victims exposed to the contaminated water while still developing in the womb. -
Veterans and grieving families gathered in Jacksonville Wednesday, urging Congress to speed up compensation for people affected by Camp Lejeune’s contaminated drinking water. The group also marched from the Freedom Fountain to Baby Heaven, an infant cemetery at Lejeune Memorial Gardens. -
Advocates and families plan to gather at Jacksonville's Freedom Fountain for a solemn walk to the children’s cemetery known as 'Baby Heaven.' Wednesday's protest is intended to put a human face on a legal battle often reduced to statistics, settlements, and court filings, and continue to push for passage of the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act. -
In a national lawsuit, parents claimed taking acetaminophen during pregnancy caused their children to develop autism or ADHD. A higher appeals court recently issued a major ruling on how strictly trial judges must vet medical experts and scientific data before a jury is allowed to hear it. Now, federal lawyers have formally flagged that case for the Camp Lejeune judges, hoping to tighten restrictions on what science is allowed at trial.
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For more than thirty years, the federal government estimates that nearly one million military service personnel, their families, and civilian employees drank, cooked with, and bathed in water severely poisoned by industrial solvents at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Brian Amburgey formed the grassroots advocacy group Lejeune Veterans for Justice and is organizing a mass rally at the Lejeune Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville on August 19th. -
In addition, the federal government is pouring millions of dollars into its legal defense team to tackle the massive wave of Camp Lejeune toxic water claims.
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“The court pretty much laid it down. They told both sides, quit messing around, get this done. You have until October 30th." -
While the judicial panel did not explicitly assign blame to either side, it did command both parties to streamline their negotiation methods immediately.
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Hundreds of military veterans and their families were on Capitol Hill this week, demanding an end to what they call a cruel government bottleneck. They are pushing for the passage of the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act, a bipartisan bill meant to bypass bureaucratic delays. Four years after Congress passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, the initial historic law to compensate those poisoned by toxic base water, fewer than one percent of the more than 400,000 claims have been resolved.
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In a brief filed this week in a North Carolina federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice argued that plaintiffs are trying to bypass statutory mechanisms designed to prevent "double-dipping" on disability benefits and court awards. Meanwhile, hundreds of military veterans and family members harmed by the toxic water prepare to gather on the U.S. Capitol lawn for a two-day demonstration that begins on Wednesday.
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The two-day demonstration in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and Thursday, is intended to pressure lawmakers to pass reform legislation that would bypass a massive government bottleneck currently stalling more than 400,000 cases.
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The Lejeune Justice Project is mobilizing to force federal policy to catch up with modern science. Founded by Marine spouse Lauren Merrell, the organization’s fight is born from the harrowing medical ordeal of her husband, Luis Martinez Junior. He was a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1984 to 1987. The base stands as one of the worst public drinking water contamination disasters in American history. -
Mike Morrill served in the United State Marine Corps for six years, from 1983 to 1989, and was stationed at Camp Lejeune for the majority of that time. He’s one of more than 400,000 people still trying to get compensation under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of the Navy after being sickened by contaminated water aboard the base. -
H.R. 4145, known as the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act, was meant as a “course correction” for the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, to clarify that those sickenedd by the toxic water aboard the eastern North Carolina Marine Corps base have the right to jury trials, and the legislation would also lower the burden of proof for plaintiffs. But since June of last year, the bill hasn't moved an inch out of committee. For the thousands of veterans and families waiting on their day in court, the delay is frustrating.
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The meeting centers on a new offer from the military to test private wells for the presence of PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals."
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Update shows mountain of legal claims involving contaminated water at Camp Lejeune continues to growAs of mid-April, the number of lawsuits filed in North Carolina’s Eastern District has climbed to more than 3,700, with cases split nearly evenly among four federal judges. But the real movement is happening behind the scenes in settlements.
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Attorneys for the Plaintiffs Leadership Group are pushing back against a new government request to change how victims must prove their cases. The Department of Justice wants the court to enforce a strict but-for causation standard, which would require veterans to prove they only became ill because of the base's water.
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The court ruled that Dr. Bailey’s use of regulatory toxicity criteria and points of departure—methods used to assess exposure risks—counted as late-arriving general causation opinions.But the government disagrees, saying these are standard scientific tools, not legal testimony about causation, and they’re based on EPA and ATSDR guidance that’s already on record.
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The ruling comes after Dr. Julie Goodman submitted what she called “corrections” to her findings—updates that included nearly 300 changes to her analysis of dozens of medical studies.
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Last week, the Department of Justice Civil Division announced that nearly 650 Elective Option – or settlement - offers have been approved in the past three weeks, and there have been just over 2,500 approved settlement offers since 2023. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said he’s proud of the work done to speed up the approval process in the past year. However, advocates Mike Partain and Jerry Ensminger, whose tireless research and congressional testimony turned personal tragedies into the legislative momentum behind the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, said it would take about 429 years before the Navy gets through all the claims at the current pace.
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In the Eastern District of North Carolina, more than 3,700 lawsuits are currently active. While federal judges manage the heavy caseload, the government’s elective option is gaining traction—with more than 90 percent of those receiving offers choosing to settle rather than head to trial. -
Under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, the government can offset a victim's payout based on certain federal benefits already received. However, lawyers for the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group argue the government should not consider future benefits or payments from programs like TRICARE, which they contend are not covered by the law. -
“We were living at Geiger Trailer Park, which were these little bitty trailers that I think Eleanor Roosevelt had arranged for World War II vets to live in,” she said, “And when we found out that we would get a house in Tarawa Terrace, we were so excited about it, because then we could get out of the little bitty trailer."
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"I wish they would have just said, screw you, we're not going to do it. We don't care. Go ahead and die. Stop holding out hope. Stop making us fight. You know, I mean, it's cruel,” Cathy Makely said, “It's so cruel.” -
Marvin Cox served in the United States Marine Corps from 1981 to 1985. His last duty station was Camp Lejeune. He has since been diagnosed with cancer. -
A status conference for the Camp Lejeune Justice Act cases is scheduled for Friday at the Alton Lennon Federal Building and Courthouse in Wilmington before Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones Jr.; it starts at 11 a.m.
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The evidence from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry uses computer models to reconstruct how and when drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated, especially during the 1950s to 1980s when actual water testing was limited.
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The judges overseeing the Camp Lejeune water contamination litigation rules that vapor intrusion claims cannot be argued because the Camp Lejeune Justice Act specifically refers to contamination in the "water at Camp Lejeune that was supplied by, or on behalf of, the United States” and evidence related to vapor from groundwater into the air is irrelevant.
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Senator Thom Tillis and Representatives Greg Murphy and Richard Hudson said for decades, service members and their families stationed at Camp Lejeune drank, bathed, and cooked with water contaminated by toxic chemicals — a danger now known to government but left unaddressed for years.
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Seventy-two years after service members were first exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune, and three years after the passage of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, litigation over the resulting health impacts remains ongoing, with a new motion filed this week in an attempt to speed things up.
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U.S. Magistrate James Gates is one of the judges presiding over the Camp Lejeune water litigation, and he said in the order that pursuit of the year-end goal is warranted by the unique circumstances of the claims - including the long period which has passed since the water contamination occurred and the extended time needed for litigating the large number of claims.
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The water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune near Jacksonville was contaminated with industrial solvents and benzene, and it’s considered one of the worst cases of water contamination in U.S. history. Nearly one million Marines, sailors, civilian employees, and military family members were potentially exposed, according to the CDC.
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Federal lawyers defending the U.S. Government in hundreds of lawsuits connected to decades of contaminated drinking water aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune attempted to halt all deadlines connected to the case until two weeks after the government shutdown ends.
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Hearings continue as the fight for compensation for victims of decades of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune slowly plods forward.
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Eric Flynn is a partner with the Bell Legal Group, which is handling hundreds of the toxic water cases, and he said more than 2,500 lawsuits have been filed, and 411,000 claims remain pending with the Department of the Navy after the Camp Lejeune Justice Act opened a two-year-window to sue for damages related to illnesses that may have been caused by toxic water aboard the base. That window closed just over a year ago. -
The Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act has strong bipartisan support in both chambers. Companion legislation has also been introduced in the Senate. -
Darlene Brooks says Jim was not only a former Marine, but a construction worker – and the illness that appeared in his 50s devastated him. "Battling breast cancer was very difficult,” she said, “For one thing, Jim did was kind of embarrassed that it was breast cancer. And you know, like we didn't hear men having breast cancer.”
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The Camp Lejuene Justice Act was signed into law more than three years ago, and nearly all of the legal claims that resulted from it – more than 400,000 of them – are still mired in the legal process.
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Attorneys with Zois and Miller, one of the firms representing victims who are suing the federal government and the Department of the Navy for damages connected to illnesses cause by toxic water aboard the base, said the federal court has ruled that experts can use established science to explain why contaminated water likely caused a claimant’s illness, but if a report tries to introduce new studies or exposure models that weren’t disclosed before last December, they’ll be excluded.
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The bill penned by North Carolina Republicans, Rep. Greg Murphy and Sen. Thom Tillis would make corrections to the Camp Lejeune Justice Act so plaintiffs could request jury trials, cases could be heard in more federal courts and attorneys fees could be capped at 25 percent.
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The Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act of 2025 would provide for jury trials, not just bench trials; states that victims must show general causation; would allow cases to be heard in any federal court in North and South Carolina; and proposes a cap on attorney fees at 20% for settlements and 25% for trials.
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Attorneys with the firm Zois and Miller said the admissibility of Dr. Hennet’s expert opinions could shape the outcome of litigation affecting nearly half a million claimants, and lawyers add that it also highlights the escalating battles over expert credibility in one of the most consequential toxic tort cases in U.S. history.
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The major dispute has arisen over a document that the Department of Justice claims is privileged.
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Officials with Zois and Miller, one of the law firms representing victims sickened by toxic water aboard the base, said the visit by geochemist Dr. Remy Hennet took place two months after the expert disclosure deadline and long after plaintiffs had submitted their rebuttal reports.
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Right now, attorneys with the firm Zois and Miller, representing some of the victims, said the focus is on gathering information to help determine how claims might be valued. To do that, a questionnaire is being finalized and will be sent to a randomly selected group of 2,500 people who have made claims. -
North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut have introduced the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act.
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Lawyers say the Plaintiff’s Leadership Group and the U.S. Department of Justice are clashing over re-deposing sick plaintiffs, arguing about whether deteriorating health justifies another round of questioning.
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The parties are debating what proof is needed to establish that the water contamination caused illnesses in the plaintiffs, and expert testimony is under review, with the U.S. government considering objections to plaintiffs’ reports.
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Officials with one of the many law firms representing victims, Miller and Zois, say most of the work has been getting individual cases ready for trial or settlement, but systemic challenges remain in reconciling records and reviewing documentation to accelerate settlements. -
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.
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The five lawsuits that will be heading for trial first will soon be chosen.
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The United States successfully argued for the removal of the jury trial option in the Cap Lejeune toxic water case.
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Federal health officials say the study found military personnel stationed at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from 1975 to 1985 had at least a 20% higher risk for a number of cancers.
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A Kentucky veteran has spent the past decade fighting for service members and their families harmed by the toxic water at Camp Lejeune and is now suffering ill health effects of his own from his short stay aboard the base. He’s also warning other veterans about social media scams concerning the fight for compensation.
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District Judge James Dever, who presided over Wednesday’s first hearing in the class-action suit filed by the Marines and their families who were harmed by the toxic water at Marine Base Camp Lejeune, made it clear that this litigation will advance quickly. -
On Saturday, environmental activist Erin Brockovich will be opening the Camp Lejeune Legal office in Jacksonville to work with members of the community who have been impacted by the toxic water at Marine Base Camp Lejeune from 1953-1987.
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What’s taking so long? That’s the question several North Carolina Congressmen want answered concerning the toxic water at Camp Lejeune and the effort to provide victims with financial relief.
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Recent court documents show the U.S. Navy has received nearly 130,000 Camp Lejeune water contamination claims, but only a small percentage of them have been filed in the U.S. Eastern District Court of North Carolina.
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Among the advocates traveling North Carolina and across the country to speak out about the three-decade long contamination of drinking water at Camp Lejeune is a “Lejeune Baby.” Mike Partain was born aboard the base in 1967 but grew up in Florida and says he wasn’t aware there was a problem with the water until shortly after he was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, at the age of 39. -
A series of town hall meetings began last week in Jacksonville and is moving around to areas near military installations across the country, addressing the years-long water contamination at Camp Lejeune, providing information for those impacted and introducing advocates for those people. Perhaps the man who has fought the longest to get help for those impacted is retired Marine Corps Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger. -
A town hall meeting in Jacksonville, 7.7 miles from the main gate, addressed the years-long water contamination at Camp Lejeune, providing information for those impacted and introducing advocates for those people. In attendance, perhaps one of the best-known fighters for clean water and for holding organizations accountable for water contamination, Erin Brockovich.
