The first trial over Camp Lejeune’s contaminated drinking water wrapped up this week in federal court in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, four years after Congress opened the door to these claims. Its end comes as lawyers for the government and for more than 400,000 claimants face a Friday, October 30, deadline set by the court to work toward a global settlement.
As of Thursday, no settlement had been announced, and court filings show the two sides remain far apart on how claims should be sorted and proved.
The First Camp Lejeune Trial
Former Marine Frank Mousser says chemicals in the base water in the 1980s caused the kidney cancer he was diagnosed with in 2020. His bench trial before U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle began Monday and ended Wednesday. There was no jury. Judge Boyle will decide whether the water caused Mousser’s cancer and, if so, what damages to award. No date has been set for a ruling.
Mousser seeks damages for his past and future medical care and for pain and suffering. The Justice Department asked the court to rule against him, arguing that he spent significant time away from the base, that his prognosis is good, and that he cannot prove the water caused his cancer.
The Mousser case is the first of four early test trials. The next is set for November. These first cases involve the diseases the court placed in Track 1: kidney cancer, bladder cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease.
The October 30 Settlement Deadline
Earlier this year, the federal judges overseeing the Camp Lejeune litigation ordered both sides to make their best efforts to reach a global settlement framework by October 30. Court-appointed settlement masters have been meeting weekly with the lawyers.
In filings last week, the two sides staked out very different paths:
- Plaintiffs’ leadership asked the court to order a census of claimants with any of 25 disease categories, including kidney, bladder and prostate cancer, leukemia, Parkinson’s disease and birth defects. They say a count like this is needed to build a global settlement. The government’s current settlement program covers far fewer conditions.
- The Justice Department asked for what is called a Lone Pine order. It would require each plaintiff to produce records showing exposure, diagnosis and, for many diseases, an expert report linking the illness to the water, or face dismissal. Plaintiffs opposed the request on October 28.
The court has not ruled on either request.
Where the Claims Stand
More than 408,000 administrative claims have been filed with the Navy, and thousands of lawsuits are pending in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the only court that can hear these cases. As of mid-September, the government had offered more than $1.1 billion in settlements and paid out more than $879 million. Only about 1% of claimants have settled.
Most of those settlements came through the Elective Option, a program the Justice Department and the Navy announced in 2023. It pays set amounts based on the disease and time spent at the base, from $100,000 to $450,000, plus $100,000 more where the disease caused a premature death. People who accept give up any further claims against the government.
The deadline to file a Camp Lejeune claim was August 10, 2024, so no new claims can be filed. For the hundreds of thousands of people who did file, the trial results and any settlement framework will shape what comes next. For more on the steps after filing, see You Submitted a Camp Lejeune Claim, Now What? and our Camp Lejeune news page.
Common Questions
Can I still file a Camp Lejeune claim?
No. The deadline to file a claim under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was August 10, 2024, and no new claims can be filed. People who filed on time can still pursue their claims, whether through a Navy settlement offer, a lawsuit in federal court in North Carolina, or a global settlement if one is reached.
Is the Mousser case a jury trial?
No. It was tried to a federal judge, who will decide whether the base water caused Frank Mousser’s kidney cancer and, if so, how much to award. No date has been set for the ruling.
What is the Elective Option?
It is a settlement program the Justice Department and the Navy offered in 2023 for certain diseases. Payments are set by the disease and the time spent at the base, and people who accept give up further claims against the government. Most claimants have not received an offer.
Who can bring these claims?
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act covers people who spent at least 30 days at the base between August 1953 and December 1987 and later developed an illness linked to the water, including family members and civilian workers. Families of people who have died can pursue claims on their behalf.
Doyle APC handles Camp Lejeune water contamination claims together with Blalock LLC, a firm led by trial lawyer and Marine Corps veteran Harry Blalock that represents thousands of Camp Lejeune claimants.
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