The Department of the Navy says it is working through a number of potential duplicate claims submitted under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.
Since August 2022, the department has received over 550,000 claims, according to officials.
As of now, the department is reviewing each claim to notify the claimants or their legal representatives about any further documentation that may be needed for claim processing. Most of the claims received lacked the necessary paperwork to prove a medical diagnosis or show evidence that the claimant was at Camp Lejeune for a minimum of 30 days during the required time frame.
The Department of the Navy has made settlement offers to 114 claimants, leading to 80 successful settlements among the claims that provided all required documentation.
Officials say in the Eastern District of North Carolina, a total of 2,119 claimants have filed suit as of Sept. 27, with 165 settlements being offered by the Department of Justice.
The contamination of drinking water at Camp Lejeune started in the early 1950s, and the most contaminated wells were not shut down until 1985. A series of town hall events to discuss drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune took place in December 2022.
President Biden signed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act into law in 2022 as part of the PACT Act. This bill allows veterans and civilians to file claims against the U.S. government for damages related to harm caused by exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987.
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