The water was contaminated. The Justice Act made the lawsuit possible. If you developed a covered cancer or other illness, the federal government has set tier-based payouts. Filing a Justice Act claim does not affect your VA disability rating or benefits.
Marines, Navy personnel, family members, and civilian workers stationed at Camp Lejeune (NC) drank water contaminated with industrial solvents for decades. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 created a unique federal cause of action. Eligible illnesses include kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, bladder cancer, Parkinson's disease, kidney disease, and several others. Cases are heard in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
The science is settled. The ATSDR documented Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune drinking water contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (PCE), benzene, and vinyl chloride. Cohort studies tied this to elevated rates of kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma, leukemia, bladder cancer, Parkinson's disease, and others. Filing a Justice Act claim does not affect VA disability ratings or benefits.
The federal cause of action is unique. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (part of the Honoring our PACT Act) created a 2-year filing window that closed Aug 10, 2024. New federal lawsuits under the Act are no longer accepted. However, the DOJ and Navy adopted an Elective Option framework that continues to pay tiered administrative settlements to people who filed before the deadline; thousands of claims are still being processed in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
The science of the exposure, the federal cause of action, and where the claims process stands today:
Public docket and DOJ activity in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
The Department of Justice's Elective Option groups covered illnesses into tiers. Tier 1 covers the diseases with the strongest established link to Camp Lejeune contamination; Tier 2 covers additional diseases with documented links.
Tier 1 illness. Cancer of the kidney, including renal cell carcinoma. Strongly linked to TCE / PCE exposure in epidemiological studies.
Covered under the Justice Act: ATSDR-documented elevated incidence in the Camp Lejeune exposed cohort.
Tier 1 illness. Cancer of the lymphatic system. One of the most commonly accepted CLJA diagnoses.
Covered under the Justice Act: Established link to benzene and trichloroethylene exposure.
Tier 1 illness. Cancer of plasma cells in the bone marrow.
Covered under the Justice Act: Tied to benzene exposure in occupational and environmental studies.
Tier 1 illness. Acute or chronic leukemia diagnosed in adulthood.
Covered under the Justice Act: Benzene-related leukemias have decades of occupational exposure literature.
Tier 1 illness. Hepatocellular carcinoma and related primary liver cancers.
Covered under the Justice Act: Linked to vinyl chloride and TCE exposure.
Tier 1 illness. Cancer of the bladder lining.
Covered under the Justice Act: Strongly tied to TCE and PCE in epidemiological studies.
Tier 2 illness. Neurodegenerative disease with established link to TCE exposure.
Covered under the Justice Act: TCE-Parkinson's link is one of the most-cited environmental neurology findings of the last two decades.
Several other conditions are covered at Tier 2 of the Elective Option, including chronic kidney disease, aplastic anemia, MDS (myelodysplastic syndromes), and certain other cancers.
Covered under the Justice Act: The DOJ Elective Option document lists the full Tier 2 schedule; your attorney will match your diagnosis to the applicable tier.
If you filed a Justice Act administrative claim or federal lawsuit before Aug 10, 2024, the eligibility check above routes you to an attorney who can confirm your case status and advise on any Elective Option offer.
The Elective Option is a tiered administrative settlement framework. Amounts are set by illness tier and exposure duration. Accepting the Elective Option is optional; claimants can also proceed to trial in E.D.N.C.
| Diagnosis or claim type | Projected payout range | What drives the tier |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 illness, longest exposure (5+ years on base) | $450,000 to $550,000 | The highest Elective Option tier. Severe Tier 1 disease combined with the longest documented exposure window. |
| Tier 1 illness, moderate exposure (1 to 5 years) | $250,000 to $450,000 | Most common Elective Option profile. Tier 1 cancer with a documented multi-year stay on base. |
| Tier 1 illness, brief exposure (under 1 year, at least 30 days) | $150,000 to $250,000 | Minimum-exposure threshold met (30 days). Lower tier reflects shorter exposure window. |
| Tier 2 illness, longest exposure | $250,000 to $400,000 | Parkinson's disease and other Tier 2 conditions at the highest exposure duration. |
| Tier 2 illness, moderate exposure | $100,000 to $250,000 | Tier 2 condition with moderate documented exposure. |
| Wrongful death (adds to base tier) | + $100,000 | Death attributable to a covered illness adds to the base tier amount. Family-bringing claim, subject to wrongful-death rules. |
Elective Option amounts are administrative-settlement figures. Trial-track recoveries may be higher or lower depending on outcomes. Your attorney will compare the Elective Option offer to a projected trial recovery before you decide.
The filing window closed Aug 10, 2024. The four steps below apply to people who already filed (or whose family member filed before passing).
Free case review by an attorney to verify whether your Justice Act administrative claim or federal lawsuit was filed before the Aug 10, 2024 deadline.
1 to 2 business days.If a claim was filed, the attorney pulls your medical records and base-housing or duty-station records to determine your illness tier and exposure tier under the Elective Option.
3 to 8 weeks for records to be assembled.DOJ and the Navy issue Elective Option offers to qualifying claimants. Your attorney walks you through the offer against the projected trial recovery; you decide whether to accept.
Offer review windows vary; typically a 60 to 90 day decision window.If you accept, the settlement is processed and paid. If you decline, your case proceeds to litigation in the Eastern District of North Carolina with the bellwether process and the global trial-track schedule.
Settlement payment: typically 30 to 90 days after acceptance. Trial track: 12 to 36 months.The original Justice Act filing window closed Aug 10, 2024. There are a few narrow timing windows that may still apply to specific situations.
If you are unsure whether a claim was filed for you or a family member before Aug 10, 2024, the eligibility check above routes you to an attorney who can verify in the DOJ administrative-claim database.
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Filing a Justice Act claim is a separate federal track from VA disability — it does not affect your rating or your benefits. The act is specific about who qualifies and what each tier pays. We'll connect you to a VA-experienced firm to walk it through.
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Here is where Camp Lejeune claims actually stand. claimscout is not a law firm. These are federal administrative settlements under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, not jury verdicts.
Public record: the Camp Lejeune Justice Act and the DOJ/Navy Elective Option framework.
Amounts above are administrative settlement tiers, not jury awards, and the filing window has closed for most new claims. Past results do not guarantee any future outcome. This is attorney advertising, not legal advice.
Administrative claims filed before Aug 10, 2024 are with the Department of the Navy. The Navy has 6 months to respond; if denied or unresponsive, the claimant has 180 days to file in federal court (E.D.N.C.). Your attorney can confirm exact status in the DOJ administrative-claim database.
No, as a general matter. The 2-year statute under the Justice Act closed Aug 10, 2024. There are narrow exceptions (e.g., wrongful-death where the death postdates the deadline) that require case-specific analysis.
A DOJ + Navy tiered administrative settlement framework adopted in September 2023. It pays $100,000 to $550,000 based on illness tier and exposure duration, plus $100,000 for wrongful death. Accepting is optional; claimants can also proceed to trial.
Trade-off. The Elective Option is faster, certain, and lower-effort. Trial-track recoveries can be higher but take longer and carry trial risk. Your attorney will compare your projected trial outcome against the specific Elective Option offer.
No. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act explicitly states that Justice Act claims do not affect VA disability ratings or benefits. They are separate federal tracks.
Wrongful-death claims are part of the Justice Act track. Family members may bring the claim on the deceased's behalf. Wrongful-death timing rules can differ from the underlying filing deadline; case-specific analysis is required.
Civilian workers (Department of Defense employees, contractors, on-base service workers) are eligible if they meet the 30-day exposure threshold and have a covered diagnosis.
Family members of military personnel residing on base are eligible if they meet the 30-day exposure threshold and have a covered diagnosis. Pediatric exposure is documented in the ATSDR studies.
Once an offer is accepted, settlement payment typically processes within 30 to 90 days. Trial-track resolution takes substantially longer (12 to 36 months from filing).
Under the Justice Act, claimants first file an administrative claim with the Navy. The Navy has 6 months to respond. If denied or unresponsive, the claimant has 180 days to file in federal court (E.D.N.C.). The lawsuit is the litigation stage; the administrative claim is the prerequisite stage.
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