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as president Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala This summer, Harris hit the campaign trail and spoke as one Management achievements of Passing the PACT ActThis has given new advantages Hundreds of thousands of military veterans Those exposed to toxic chemicals during their service and their families.
Included in that law was the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, which was supposed to provide compensation to what some thought were victims. One of the worst Situations of Drinking Water Pollution in American History. Critics say the initiative is far less successful.
Up to 1 million people It is being estimated. Lived or worked at a Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Between August 1953 and December 1987, drinking water was heavily contaminated with carcinogenic industrial solvents such as trichlorethylene, or TCE, and tetrachlorethylene, or PCE.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act gave people exposed to contamination at the North Carolina site a two-year window to file claims against the federal government. That window closes on Saturday.
The idea was to set up a system to quickly review cases and compensate those affected by their relationship with the base and their health, but advocates for Camp Lejeune victims said it didn't work that way.
In the year More than 385,000 claims have been filed since Aug. 2, but the government has made settlement offers in only 114 — or about 0.03% — of all cases, Lt. Cmd. US spokesman Joe Kelly Office of the Navy that handles claims. The Marine Corps is part of the US Navy Department.
Only 72 people accepted those offers, and three declined. Lawyers pursuing the case say these discounts often pale in comparison to what people spent to fight cancer and other pollution-related diseases. Some people believe they do better in court.
According to the Navy, the remaining people who were offered settlement did not respond.
“The federal government … promised these men and women some form of accountability through the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, and they failed to deliver on that promise,” said Andrew Van Arsdale, one of the attorneys handling the victims' claims.
The Navy said some of the claims were duplicative, and the total number of lawsuits would probably drop after clearing those.
“The Department of the Navy is committed to resolving claims filed by our service members, civilian employees, family members and others under the CLJA as expeditiously as possible,” Kiely said in a statement.
If the government doesn't act on claims within six months, victims can choose to file a lawsuit, a process that can take years to resolve.
Many don't have that time: More than 2,000 people Van Arsdale helped file claims for have died awaiting a response. In theory, the families could continue the effort, but doing so would be a different and more difficult matter, he said.
One of those clients is Terri McClure, whose widow, Denise McClure, has vowed to pursue her husband's claims.
Terry McClure was a baker in the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Lejeune in the late 1970s.
“So he washed his hands in the water a lot, cooked in the water, washed in the water, swam in the water,” said the widow.
“He said he knew the water smelled bad. It was horrible, and that was basically the only water they would drink,” says Denise, 62, who now lives in Louisville, Kentucky.
Terry died 2023 Complications from Parkinson's disease at the age of 65.
In the same year, Research The medical records of more than 340,000 service members were obtained by Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune. 70% higher risk Developing Parkinson's disease without drinking water at Camp Pendleton, California.
The link between Parkinson's and the chemical pollution at Camp Lejeune is so strong that the government has recognized it. One of nine injuries It can fast-track victims' claims for compensation.
Lawyers filed a claim for Terry McClure In the year in 2022, but the Navy did not respond, according to Dennis and her attorneys.
Denise said she had no help caring for Terry during his last years. She had to buy a special trailer for their car and put a hospital bed in their one-bedroom to make medical appointments.
She says the money from the Navy may have allowed her to hire more help and stay at home longer.
Now, she said, the money will help make her family more secure.
All Terry wants to do is take care of me, so it makes him happy to know that I'm taken care of and that I can take care of Grandpa.
Denise did not press charges because If she does that, it could put her offline for settlement.
She, like many other families, feels legally trapped.
“These people aren't looking to win some kind of legal lottery here. They're looking for a little bit of resources to get the medical care they need and live out their last days to the best of their abilities,” Van Arsdale said.
In an email to plaintiffs' attorneys last year, Navy attorney Jennifer Tennille Carnes blamed the delay on a lack of manpower and funding to handle the claims. Carnes said the Navy had hoped to double the number of employees in the claims department late last summer while developing an online claims portal. It was the email. First reported According to Bloomberg Law.
In May 2023, Florida Senator Marco Rubio wrote to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro asking why the claims settlement process was taking so long. Del Toro said in a letter obtained by that the Navy unit responsible for processing the claims was overwhelmed by the “unprecedented number of claims that have been received.”
Del Toro explained that typically the tort claims division of the Office of the Judge Advocate General is staffed by a full-time staff of 22 people and handles about 2,000 claims a year. In the first year of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, the Navy received 70,000 claims and counting. The vote required them to create a separate task force and hire additional personnel just to handle the Camp Lejeune claims. Due to the timing of the bill's passage, del Toro said the Navy was unable to initially request additional funding to do so.
The Navy said it has “dramatically increased” the size of its processing operations by creating a Camp Lejeune claims division that now includes 100 civilian employees and 53 contractors. It has also completed an online management portal that allows people to track their claims and communicate directly with the staff processing their files.
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This year, two members of Congress from North Carolina – GOP representative. Dr. Greg Murphy and Democratic Republic Deborah Ross – Proposed corrections They hope to Camp Lejeune justice law It also violates the legal system.
A Murphy spokeswoman said the law makes clear that people exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune do not need to prove they were exposed to certain levels of chemicals while living or working there. It also allows these cases to be transferred out of the Eastern District of North Carolina, which is currently charged with handling them all.
Murphy hopes the bill will be flagged At the end of this congressional session in the Judiciary Committee, this action paves the way for consideration by the full council next year.
More than 1,800 charges have been filed against Van Arsdale, and initial trial dates are tentatively set for mid-2025.
Denise McClure knows that for many, that will be too late.
“They need to do something for these people while they're alive, not after they're gone,” she said.