As a federal court announced on Tuesday, the U.S. Navy is facing approximately 546,500 administrative lawsuits seeking compensation from people affected by the toxic water at Camp Lejeune.

The number was disclosed in a status report from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The Navy is currently reviewing the duplicate applications, the filing said. More than 385,000 applications had been filed as of Aug. 2, and the government was bracing for a last-minute surge ahead of the Aug. 10 filing deadline.

The bill that became the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was passed in 2022 to provide compensation for people sickened by the water at the North Carolina military base. The law establishes an administrative process that requires claims to first be filed with the Department of the Navy, which has six months to decide each claim. If no settlement is reached, plaintiffs can sue in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

• Official estimates suggest that up to 1 million veterans, workers or their families who lived or worked on the base were exposed to the water.
• Anyone who lived on the base for 30 days or more between 1953 and 1987 and developed illnesses such as cancer and Parkinson’s disease can make claims
• Congress has projected that government payouts could exceed $21 billion.

The case is Camp Lejeune Water Litig. v. United States, EDNC, No. 7:23-cv-00897, 8/21/24.