A recent court document shows that the U.S. Navy has received more than 546,000 compensation claims from people affected by water pollution at the Camp Lejeune Naval Base in North Carolina.

The brief is a joint status report filed on August 20 by the U.S. government and the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG), a group of attorneys appointed by the court to lead and coordinate legal action on behalf of all plaintiffs in the Camp Lejeune water contamination case, one of the largest claims in U.S. history.

The US Marine Corps discovered contaminants in the base’s drinking water in 1982. According to the American health authority Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry, “up to one million military and civilian personnel and their families may have been exposed to the contaminated drinking water” over a period of about 30 years.

The filing came after the August 10 deadline to file claims under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA), a law that allows people who previously came into contact with contaminated water at Camp Lejeune to file a new claim with the U.S. Navy.

The Camp Lejeune lawsuit surpasses even the massive 3M Co. military earplugs lawsuit, which involved nearly 400,000 claims. The Navy has said it is committed to resolving every valid CLJA claim as fairly and quickly as possible, but with such a large number of claims, the process is likely to be lengthy and complicated.

The joint status report indicates that the Navy is focusing its efforts on processing applications received by the August 10 deadline, including eliminating duplicates, so the number of applications may still fluctuate slightly.

“Let’s be realistic. Given the population size and duration of contamination, it is unlikely that more than half a million people suffered direct injuries. That number is certainly inflated by duplicates and claims that are simply not viable,” said personal injury law firm Miller & Zois, LLC, whose attorneys are representing some of the victims.

The report also states that from February 11, 2023, to August 20, 2024, a total of 2,037 lawsuits were filed under the CLJA in the Eastern District of North Carolina. These cases are divided among four federal judges, each of whom hears about 500 cases. Of these, 50 cases were dismissed, mostly through voluntary dismissal.

The court has established a phased litigation process to handle the extensive litigation, beginning with the identification of the specific chemicals present in Camp Lejeune’s water supply from 1953 to 1987. This first phase, called the “water contamination phase,” is followed by a phase examining “general causation” for specific illnesses alleged by the plaintiffs, and finally individual litigation for those affected, the complaint states.

Both parties in the litigation – represented by PLG and the U.S. Department of Justice – have agreed on the essential elements needed to prove a CLJA claim. Plaintiffs must show that they lived in, worked in, or were otherwise exposed to Camp Lejeune’s contaminated water for at least 30 days during the specified period, suffered harm, and that the harm was caused by the water contamination.

The Navy is attempting to resolve these claims through administrative proceedings, but progress is slow. So far, only about 150 cases have been resolved administratively, prompting many to file lawsuits in federal court. More lawsuits are likely in the pipeline, and the first trials are not expected to begin until late 2025.

The trial was complex and, according to the record, involved ongoing discovery efforts, including the production of documents and witness testimony. Both sides are actively engaged in gathering evidence and preparing for the upcoming phases of the trial. Some disputes remain unresolved, including technical problems with the production of documents and disagreements over the scope of certain witness testimony. The status report shows that the parties continue to meet and deliberate on outstanding issues.