It was a decision decades in the making: Veterans exposed to toxins on the Camp Lejeune military base years ago can now sue the federal government for their water contamination injuries. On August 10, President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act aimed at helping military members exposed to toxic substances during their service. Included in the legislation was the long-awaited Camp Lejeune Justice Act, designed to provide judicial relief to those harmed by tainted groundwater on the base — some 40 years after it was discovered.
Contaminated Water Injuries: What Happened at Camp Lejeune?
Established in 1942, Camp Lejeune serves as a U.S. Marine Corps Base in North Carolina. Military activities started polluting the drinking water in the early 1950s and continued into the 1980s when the contamination was discovered. By the time the poisoned wells were closed in 1985, as many as a million people on the base may have been exposed to the toxic water supply.