Recent developments from a Federal court in North Carolina have introduced significant changes to the financial and medical parameters of the Camp Lejeune toxic water litigation. However, while categorized as procedural adjustments by some legal experts, numerous victims and their advocates remain unconvinced of any substantial progress.
Long-standing supporters of affected service members, their families, and civilian workers argue that these court rulings do little to resolve a fundamentally stagnant process.
The base’s drinking water was revealed to have been contaminated with industrial solvents and other chemicals from the 1950s to the 1980s, with the CDC indicating that over a million individuals could have been exposed. Despite the identification of highly toxic volatile organic compounds, the water remained in use for nearly five more years.
Mike Partain, an advocate who suffered from toxic exposure while in-utero, attributes much of the delay in justice to the Department of Justice (DoJ). He stated, “Department of Justice and these career attorneys, bureaucrats for lack of a better word, that are entrenched in the DOJ’s environmental branch have gone rogue. They’re not following the will of Congress. They’re creating a mess and screwing over our veterans and their families.”
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
This month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina issued two pivotal orders affecting the Camp Lejeune legal proceedings. The first, Order 885, prohibits the Department of Justice from automatically reducing final payouts using existing federal benefits. The government must now demonstrate at trial that any VA, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits were specifically for conditions caused by Camp Lejeune’s water.
Additionally, Order 884 dismissed the testimony of Dr. Lisa Bailey, a key government medical defense expert, due to late submission of her reports. Jerry Ensminger, a long-time advocate since his daughter’s leukemia death, expressed little surprise, noting, “Her report was so full of errors, I mean, it was a mess, from what I understand, and I guess they couldn’t get it corrected in time.”
U.S. Veterans Administration
For families who gathered at Capitol Hill just a day before these decisions, minor changes to trial rules don’t address the central issue: after four years, no case has reached the courtroom. Mike Partain criticizes the DoJ for employing procedural tactics to prolong litigation, thereby depriving many veterans of their chance at justice.
“If the Department of Justice was following the spirit of the law, then this would be a settlement negotiation, not fighting this tooth and nail, not trying to get everything dismissed, not trying to challenge their own experts,” Partain commented. “Because the end result, when you look at that, the Department of Justice is attempting to get a zero settlement by claiming nobody met the criteria to show that they were poisoned.”
The focus has now shifted back to Washington, where protesters and lawmakers urge swift passage of the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act. This proposed law would empower victims by allowing jury trials, expanding court jurisdiction, and easing the burden of proof for plaintiffs. However, the bill, introduced over a year ago, remains stalled in committee.
Blame for the legislative impasse is often directed at House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan. According to sources, the committee is not prioritizing the bill due to financial concerns and other priorities. Attempts to contact Jordan’s office for comment were unsuccessful.
The Senate version of the bill is similarly stalled, with advocates like Jerry Ensminger warning that each day of delay takes a toll on victims’ opportunities for justice. “Justice delayed is justice denied. And the longer they delay this, the more of these victims become, they become desperate. Eventually they’re like hungry fish in a pond. You throw some bait in there and, buddy, they rise and take it right away,” he explained.
The “bait” mentioned refers to the Camp Lejeune Elective Option, a fast-tracked settlement initiative by the Department of the Navy. However, Mike Partain notes that the settlements offered are significantly lower than potential court awards. “The longer you delay, it creates pressure, like Jerry’s saying, with the hungry fish,” he said, “But it’s a tactic that they’re using, and they’ve been quite successful on it because there is no pressure on the Department of Justice.”
Mass tort cases like the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) typically don’t reach a global settlement until a few “test cases,” known as bellwether trials, are conducted. The first Track 1 bellwether trials—focusing on leukemia, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Parkinson’s Disease—are expected to start later this year, though this timeline has been extended multiple times. Originally, trials were slated to commence in late 2025.
Equally troubling for many, including Mike Partain, is the lack of accountability for those who concealed the contamination and allowed continued use of toxic water. “We thought that by exposing the lies, challenging the narrative, and getting the truth out there, that there would be some accountability,” Partain remarked, “And to date, nobody that perpetrated the contamination cover-up has ever been held accountable. No one’s ever been court-martialed in command. Most of these people were either dying or dead now or comfortably collecting a retirement.”
Annette Weston, Public Radio East
Attempts to reach North Carolina U.S. Senator Thom Tillis and U.S. Representative Greg Murphy, sponsors of the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act, for comment were unsuccessful. However, Congressman Murphy provided a statement:
“Delivering justice to the individuals and families impacted by contaminated water is one of my highest priorities in Congress. I continue to advocate for my bill, the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act, regularly with Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan. Unfortunately, because of the ridiculous 43-day government shutdown last year, the legislative backlog in committees has slowed business tremendously. I am working hard to push it forward and won’t stop until we get it signed into law,” said Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D.
Public Radio East will continue to track both the legislative bottleneck in Washington and the mounting frustration in North Carolina and beyond.
