[3] In August 2012, President Obama signed the Janey Ensminger Act into law to begin providing medical care for people who may have been affected by the contamination.
From August 1, 1953 through December 31, 1987 (sometimes from January 1, 1950 through December 31, 1985), Marines and personnel of any branch of the armed forces and their families stationed at Camp Lejeune's main base, barracks, family, temporary housing, Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point may have consumed or bathed in water contaminated with hazardous toxins at concentrations from 240 to 3400 times levels permitted by safety standards.
In March 1981, one of the lab's reports, which was delivered to U.S. Marine officials, stated, "Water is highly contaminated with other chlorinated hydrocarbons (solvents)!
A representative from Grainger, Mike Hargett, stated that he went with Betz in July 1982 to inform an unnamed Marine lieutenant colonel who was deputy director of base utilities about the problems with the water.
[14] In July 1984, a different company contracted under the EPA's Superfund review of Lejeune and other sites found benzene in the base's water, along with PCE and TCE.
At this time the Marines did not disclose that benzene had been discovered in the water and stated to the media that the EPA did not mandate unacceptable levels of PCE and TCE.
The fuel leaks occurred near the main well that serves Hadnot Point, location of enlisted and officer's quarters and the base hospital.
The notifications were directed by a federal health study examining possible birth defects among children born at the base during the contamination years.
[15] In 2007, Jerry Ensminger, a retired Marine master sergeant, found a document dated 1981 that described a radioactive dump site near a rifle range at the camp.
[24] In March 2010 the VA decided that Buckley's cancer was directly linked to his ingestion of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and awarded him 100% disability benefits.
On February 22, 2012, the VA agreed that retired Marine Frank Rachowicz' terminal cancer was caused by exposure to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
[10] The U.S. Navy requested a dismissal of the case, stating that the statute of limitations had expired and that regulations at the time did not include contaminants such as trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, vinyl chloride and benzene.
"[28] In January 2011, retired Marine Joel P. Shriberg filed suit against the US Government, claiming that Lejeune's contaminated water caused his breast cancer.
In October 2014, a federal appeals court rejected the North Carolina legislature's attempt to extend a time limit for filing pollution-related lawsuits.
A multi-district litigation, MDL-2218, was dismissed on North Carolina statute of repose grounds on December 5, 2016, and the appeal to the 11th Circuit failed (Straw, et al. v. United States, 16-17573).
§ 1915(e)(2)(B), this "IFP" status means the case was reviewed by the Magistrate Judge and found not to be frivolous or malicious, that it stated a claim on which relief could be granted, and is not against an immune defendant.
If Straw wins this case, every petition for writ of certiorari filed each year will receive a merits decision, including any Camp LeJeune appeals.
[41] The Court has also rejected simplifying the causation requirement, instead ensuring that every single claimant must prove via experts that their illnesses or death were the result of the Camp LeJeune poisoning "at least as likely as not."
The bill was expected to cost $3.9 billion over 10 years and directed the Department of Defense to pay, and the VA to provide the care, for victims of the water contamination.
[46] In March 2010 a congressional investigation led by Miller asked the Navy and a contractor, Baker Environmental Inc., for documents related to the contamination issue.
"[47] On March 22, 2010, the ATSDR formally complained to the USMC for withholding details of and access to databases containing more than 700,000 electronic documents related to the water contamination.
"[17] Congressional investigators and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have asked the Marine Corps to retract the booklet, which contains information its critics have called "misleading".
[50] In June 2011 the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry began sending a survey to approximately 350,000 former employees or residents of Camp Lejeune.
The film, directed by Tony Hardmon and Rachel Libert, made the 15-film short list for consideration for a 2012 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film[52] On April 20, 2012, members of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees signed a letter to President Obama asking that health care for Camp Lejeune contamination victims be expedited.
The Government Accountability Office, on May 2, 2012, issued a report recommending that the DoD update its processes for addressing possible health effects from toxic exposure.
Retired Marine drill instructor Jerry Ensminger started a petition requesting that the US government begin providing healthcare to Camp Lejeune veterans exposed to the toxic water.
[54] On July 18, 2012, the US Senate passed the Janey Ensminger Act authorizing medical care to military and family members who had resided at the base between 1957 and 1987 and developed conditions linked to the water contamination.
This means that for a large part of the children affected, they are not covered by CLFMP (Camp LeJeune Family Member Program, created by the Janey Ensminger Act) due to this on-base address requirement.
Thus, while a person may receive millions of dollars for their exposure and injuries under CLJA, they may be excluded from the health care under CLFMP that would help screen for those CLJA-covered conditions.
[60] The language of Section 804 provides for monetary relief for those injured by exposure to the Camp Lejeune base and its toxic water by[61] 30 days of "living", "working", or otherwise being exposed between 1953 and 1987 is the prerequisite for compensation.