Friday, April 8, 2022 - Military veterans, civilian workers, and the families of each may soon be able to file water contamination lawsuits against the Federal government for polluting their tap drinking water and causing them to develop cancer and other illnesses. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 recently sailed through the US House of Representatives and is awaiting final approval by the Senate, which could take place any day. If approved, and it seems highly likely that it will be, veterans and their families members may file PFAS cancer lawsuits for the suffering they, their spouses, and children have had to endure from drinking, washing, and playing in the water polluted with toxic forever chemicals. For the past 50 years, hundreds of military bases including the ones in North Carolina dug trenches called burn pits into the earth and dumped their toxic waste into them and then lit them on fire to dispose of the waste. About once per month, these open-ended fires were kept under control by spraying carcinogenic firefighting foam made by the 3M corporation and others onto it. The toxic foam eventually seeped into the groundwater table and polluted it with forever PFAS chemicals.
The legal process in North Carolina has prevented soldiers from filing lawsuits under the pretext of an unreasonably short limitation of time to do so. Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the Camp Lejeune water pollution problem is the Department of Defense overlooking its responsibility to the young families of marines serving their country. Studies indicate that the children of soldiers stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina are four times more likely to develop cancer than children raised elsewhere. According to an expose published by CBS News, "A long-awaited study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a link between tainted tap water at a U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina and increased risk of serious birth defects and childhood cancers." Pregnant mothers, according to the article, living on or near the base who drank the Camp Lejeune tap water were four times more likely to have a child born with, cancer, spina bifida, or other serious birth defects according to the study of more than 12,000 families over a 17-year period. During the time of the study, "The CDC was able to confirm 15 cases of spina bifida and anencephaly, 24 oral clefts, and 13 cancers. More than 100 cases of birth defects and childhood cancers were reported overall." The article goes on to find that while adults were not included in this particular study, an alarming "cancer cluster" developed. "Eighty-two men with Lejeune ties have been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of breast cancer," according to CBS.
The Pentagon has admitted that hundreds of military base operations have resulted in ground water contamination. Military veterans and their families that have suffered from cancer or have children born with birth defects should speak with a PFAS water attorney to file a claim against the DOJ for lump-sum monetary damages.
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Filing a lawsuit will allow you to hold the federal government accountable for damage it has caused you or a loved one, while also providing real compensation for your medical expenses, suffering and loss. Contact us today for a free consultation.