Camp lejeune justice act of 2022 will allow victims of water contamination to file a claim

On March 3, 2022, H.R. 3967, the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 passed the United States House of Representatives. On June 16, 2022 the United States Senate passed an amended version of the bill. The bill has been sent back to the House of Representatives due to a procedural delay, but is expected to be voted on again during the Summer of 2022. Once the revised bill passes it will be sent to President Joseph Biden to be signed into law. President Biden is expected to sign the bill once it does arrive at his desk, as on June 16, 2022 he released a statement praising the PACT Act being passed by the Senate, stating that “it will offer critical support to survivors who were harmed by exposures, including from water contamination at Camp LeJeune.”

What to Expect

When signed by the President, the PACT Act will create a two-year period for veterans who participated in a toxic exposure risk activity, served in specified locations on specific dates, or deployed in support of a specified contingency operation to file a lawsuit. 

Within the PACT Act is the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022. This section of the Act creates a two-year window for veterans, or their legal representatives, who resided, worked, or were otherwise exposed (including in utero) for 30 or more days to water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987 to bring a claim for injuries sustained as a result of the exposure.  Previously, people who worked, lived, or exposed in utero to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune were not permitted to file a claim in Federal Court in the United States due to a strict Statute of Repose in North Carolina. The Act provides that the actions be brought in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The Act lowers the burden of proof for the person bringing the action. Those bringing an action must show one or more relationships between the water at Camp Lejeune and the harm. To do so, the party bringing the claim must produce evidence showing that the relationship between exposure to the water at Camp Lejeune and their harm is either:

(a) sufficient to conclude that a causal relationship exists; or

(b) sufficient to conclude that a causal relationship is at least as likely as not.

To date, studies have been conducted that reveal a possible link between exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and various medical conditions. If you or a loved one spent time at Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987 and have died from or been diagnosed with one of the following medical conditions you may have a claim:

• Aplastic Anemia
• Bladder Cancer
• Breast Cancer
• Cardiac Birth Defects
• Esophageal Cancer
• Hepatic Steatosis
• Infertility
• Kidney Cancer
• Leukemia
• Liver Cancer
• Lung Cancer
• Lymphoma
• Miscarriages
• Multiple Myeloma and other myelodysplastic syndromes
• Non-Cancerous Diseases
• Ovarian Cancer
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Renal Toxicity
• Scleroderma
• Stomach Cancer

Contact An Experienced Clark Personal Injury Lawyer About Your Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Exposure In New Jersey

Do you or a loved one live in New Jersey, New York, or Pennsylvania and believe you were harmed due to the water contamination at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987?  If so, you need an aggressive personal injury attorney on your side, fighting to get you the compensation you need, want, and deserve. The skilled and experienced attorneys at TEAMLAW can help.  Call 732-388-5454 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation about your case. We have an office conveniently located at 136 Central Ave., Clark, NJ 07066, as well as offices in West New York, Perth Amboy, Edison, Summit, Newark, New Brunswick, Orange, Plainfield, and Jersey City for your convenience.