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Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit
The filing window is closed. The two-year deadline to bring a Camp Lejeune Justice Act claim expired on August 10, 2024, and cannot be reopened by a court. A federal claim created by Congress in 2022 for people exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987. The window to file closed on August 10, 2024; the cases filed before it are still being litigated and settled in one North Carolina court.
The docket record
- Docket
- 7:23-cv-897
- Court
- E.D.N.C.
- Consolidated by
- Act of Congress
- Judges assigned
- 4
Consolidated as In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation · no JPML transfer order · no MDL number
Filings are consolidated as In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, No. 7:23-cv-897, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, before Chief Judge Richard E. Myers II, Judge Terrence W. Boyle, Judge Louise W. Flanagan and Judge James C. Dever III. Jurisdiction and venue come from the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, Pub. L. 117-168 § 804, not from a transfer order.
This litigation has no MDL number. Congress sent these cases to one court directly. Section 804(d) of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act gives the Eastern District of North Carolina exclusive jurisdiction and venue, so there was no Judicial Panel transfer order and the litigation never appears on the JPML's monthly pending-docket report. That is why you will not find a Camp Lejeune MDL number, and why the figures below come from the agencies that publish them rather than from a single monthly count.
| Figure | Reported | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Settlement offers extended | over $1 billion | August 10, 2026 | U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division |
| Settlement payments made | over $827 million | August 10, 2026 | U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division |
| Elective Option offers approved | 649 | March 10, 2026 | U.S. Department of Justice |
Camp Lejeune water contamination lawsuit update — September 2026
Latest reported figures: settlement offers extended over $1 billion as of August 10, 2026 (U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division); settlement payments made over $827 million as of August 10, 2026 (U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division); elective option offers approved 649 as of March 10, 2026 (U.S. Department of Justice). This litigation is not on the JPML's monthly report, so there is no month-by-month count to restate — each figure is dated to the day its source published it.
Section 804(j)(2) of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act allowed a claim to be commenced no later than the later of two years after the Act's enactment — August 10, 2024 — or 180 days after the Navy denies an administrative claim. Both halves of that rule matter. Nobody who failed to present an administrative claim to the Department of the Navy by August 10, 2024 can start one now. But someone who did file by that date still has a live path: section 804(h) requires them to go through the agency first, and once the Navy denies the claim, or six months pass without a decision, they may sue in the Eastern District of North Carolina, with 180 days from a denial to do so. Those cases are consolidated as In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, No. 7:23-cv-897, before four district judges. The court has organised early discovery around five Track 1 illnesses, and the Justice Department continues to settle claims in parallel through the Elective Option.
Sources: Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, Pub. L. 117-168 § 804 (… · Public Guidance on the Elective Option for Camp Lejeune J… · Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims · Information Concerning Camp Lejeune Water Litigation; full list at the end of this page.
Official claims administrator: clclaims.jag.navy.mil/ · claim deadline published as August 10, 2024. Claims are filed there, never here.
What the lawsuits are about
From the 1950s through the 1980s, drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina was contaminated with industrial solvents. Two of the base's water treatment plants, Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point, distributed water containing trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has since modelled the exposures and reviewed the epidemiology linking them to particular diseases.
For decades, people exposed at Camp Lejeune could not sue. North Carolina's statute of repose and the federal government's sovereign immunity combined to bar the claims, a result the Supreme Court effectively left in place in CTS Corp. v. Waldburger (2014). Congress responded with the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, enacted as section 804 of the Honoring our PACT Act on August 10, 2022, which created a federal cause of action and stripped the government of the immunity defence it would otherwise have had.
The Act is unusual in ways that shape everything about this record. It names one court — the Eastern District of North Carolina — as the exclusive jurisdiction and venue, so there is no multidistrict litigation and no Judicial Panel docket number. It sets a lower burden of proof than an ordinary toxic tort: a claimant must show the relationship between the water and the harm is either sufficient to conclude a causal relationship exists, or sufficient to conclude one is at least as likely as not. It bars punitive damages, and it offsets any award against VA, Medicare and Medicaid benefits already received for the same condition.
It also set a hard two-year deadline, and that deadline has passed. The practical question for almost everyone reading this is no longer whether they were exposed, but whether they presented a claim to the Navy before August 10, 2024.
Injuries named in the filings
- Kidney cancer
- Liver cancer
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Leukemias, including myelodysplastic syndromes
- Bladder cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Parkinson's disease
- Kidney disease, including end-stage renal disease
- Systemic sclerosis / systemic scleroderma
- Cardiac birth defects (recognised by ATSDR but excluded from the Elective Option settlement grid)
Principal defendants: United States of America (Department of the Navy).
Sources: Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, Pub. L. 117-168 § 804 (… · Public Guidance on the Elective Option for Camp Lejeune J… · Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims · Information Concerning Camp Lejeune Water Litigation; full list at the end of this page.
Who the filings say qualifies
The Act's own threshold is short: at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune during a fixed period, and a harm caused by the water. The Justice Department's Elective Option guidance then narrows which illnesses it will settle administratively and on what terms. Because the filing window has closed, the first question below is now the one that decides everything.
- An administrative claim was presented to the Department of the Navy on or before August 10, 2024. This is the statutory deadline in section 804(j)(2) and it has passed — a claim not presented by that date can no longer be brought.
- The person resided, worked, or was otherwise exposed — including in utero — for not less than 30 days between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987, to water at Camp Lejeune supplied by or on behalf of the United States.
- A harm caused by that exposure, shown to a standard of either 'sufficient to conclude that a causal relationship exists' or 'sufficient to conclude that a causal relationship is at least as likely as not'.
- For the Elective Option specifically: one of nine listed diseases. Tier 1 covers kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemias and bladder cancer; Tier 2 covers multiple myeloma, Parkinson's disease, kidney disease or end-stage renal disease, and systemic sclerosis or scleroderma.
- Documentation of the exposure period — military service records, tax returns, drivers' licences, pay stubs or employment contracts. A family member who lived on base may rely on the service member's housing or employment records.
- Litigation and the Elective Option are alternatives, not both. The Navy cannot process an Elective Option claim for someone who has already filed suit in the Eastern District of North Carolina, and a claimant may not dismiss a lawsuit in order to return to the administrative process.
These are the criteria in the public record, not a promise about any individual case. A law firm evaluates each case on its own facts, and limitations periods vary by state.
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Key dates
- Start of the statutory exposure period defined by the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.
- End of the statutory exposure period. Exposure outside August 1, 1953 to December 31, 1987 does not qualify.
- The Camp Lejeune Justice Act is enacted as section 804 of the Honoring our PACT Act, Pub. L. 117-168, creating a federal cause of action and starting the two-year filing clock. source
- The Eastern District of North Carolina orders a master docket maintained under the style In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation and invites applications for plaintiffs' leadership. source
- The Justice Department and the Navy announce the voluntary Elective Option, a settlement grid paying $100,000 to $450,000 by illness tier and exposure length, plus $100,000 where the qualifying injury resulted in death. source
- Case Management Order No. 2 organises early discovery around five Track 1 illnesses: bladder cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, Parkinson's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. source
- The statutory filing deadline expires. No new Camp Lejeune Justice Act claim can be commenced after this date. source
- The Justice Department reports 649 approved Elective Option offers totalling roughly $175 million, and more than $421 million paid since January 20, 2025. source
- The Justice Department reports settlement offers exceeding $1 billion and settlement payments exceeding $827 million. source
Questions people ask
Can I still file a Camp Lejeune claim in 2026?
No, not a new one. Section 804(j)(2) of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act required a claim to be commenced within two years of the Act's enactment, and that deadline expired on August 10, 2024. A court cannot extend it. The only people who still have a live path are those who presented an administrative claim to the Department of the Navy on or before that date. If you did, your claim did not die on August 10, 2024 — you may still be able to sue in the Eastern District of North Carolina once the Navy denies the claim or six months pass without a decision.
What are the Camp Lejeune Tier 1 and Tier 2 settlement amounts?
The Justice Department's Elective Option grid pays by illness tier and length of exposure. A Tier 1 qualifying injury is offered $150,000 for 30 to 364 days of exposure, $300,000 for one to five years, and $450,000 for more than five years. A Tier 2 qualifying injury is offered $100,000, $250,000 and $400,000 for the same three exposure bands. Where the qualifying injury resulted in death, an additional $100,000 is offered, making $550,000 the maximum Elective Option offer. These are the figures in DOJ's published guidance of September 6, 2023; they are what the government offers under one specific programme, not a prediction about any individual case.
Which illnesses are Tier 1 and which are Tier 2?
Tier 1 covers kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemias and bladder cancer — the illnesses for which ATSDR found 'sufficient' evidence of a causal link. Tier 2 covers multiple myeloma, Parkinson's disease, kidney disease or end-stage renal disease, and systemic sclerosis or systemic scleroderma, where ATSDR found evidence at the 'equipoise and above' level. Cardiac birth defects are recognised by ATSDR but are deliberately excluded from the Elective Option, because DOJ considered them too fact-intensive to evaluate on a grid.
Is there a Tier 3 Camp Lejeune settlement amount?
No. The Justice Department's Elective Option grid has only two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2, set by how strong ATSDR found the evidence of a causal link for each illness. The confusion is understandable: each tier shows three different amounts, because the grid also splits by how long someone was exposed — 30 to 364 days, one to five years, and more than five years. Those three columns are exposure bands, not a third tier. So a Tier 1 injury with more than five years of exposure is offered $450,000, which is the highest figure on the grid before the additional $100,000 for a qualifying injury that resulted in death.
When will the Camp Lejeune lawsuits be settled?
There is no global settlement date, and no court has set one. Two things are happening in parallel. The Justice Department and the Navy have been settling claims one at a time through the Elective Option since September 2023, reporting more than $1 billion in offers and more than $827 million paid as of August 10, 2026. Separately, the cases filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina are moving through court on the Track 1 schedule the judges set for five illnesses. Anyone giving you a settlement date for the litigation as a whole is guessing.
How much do Camp Lejeune claims actually pay?
There is no published average, and anyone quoting one is estimating. What is published is the Elective Option grid above — a fixed schedule of $100,000 to $450,000 by tier and exposure length, plus $100,000 for a death case — and the Justice Department's aggregate totals: more than $1 billion in offers and more than $827 million paid as of August 10, 2026. Cases that go through litigation rather than the Elective Option are not settled on a grid at all, and any award is offset by VA, Medicare or Medicaid benefits already received for the same condition.
Why is there no Camp Lejeune MDL number?
Because the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation was never involved. Section 804(d) of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act gives the Eastern District of North Carolina exclusive jurisdiction and venue over these actions, so cases go there by statute rather than by transfer order. The court consolidated them itself under a master docket, In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, No. 7:23-cv-897. One consequence is that Camp Lejeune never appears on the JPML's monthly pending-docket report, which is where the case counts on the rest of this site come from.
How do I check the status of my Camp Lejeune claim?
Through the Navy's CLJA Claims Portal at clclaims.jag.navy.mil, which is the official system for administrative claims. If your case has been filed in court instead, its status is on the docket in the Eastern District of North Carolina, and your attorney can pull it. We do not host claim forms and cannot look up a claim for you.
What does Track 1 mean and which illnesses are in it?
Track 1 is the court's early-discovery group, set by Case Management Order No. 2 in September 2023. It covers five illnesses — bladder cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, Parkinson's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma — chosen because early trials on common illnesses may help resolve the rest. The court was explicit that the selection 'does not reflect any assessment of the merits of these or other CLJA actions'. Being outside Track 1 does not mean a weaker case; it means a later place in the queue.
Do I need a lawyer if I already filed with the Navy?
Not necessarily, but it is the decision point. A claimant can accept an Elective Option offer without counsel. Declining it, or moving to litigation once the Navy denies the claim or six months pass, is a different undertaking — the Act requires proof of causation to a statutory standard, and there are 180 days from a denial to bring suit. Whether an offer on the grid is worth accepting depends on your tier, your exposure length and what benefits would be offset, which is exactly what a lawyer licensed to advise you can assess and we cannot.
Will accepting an Elective Option settlement cut my VA benefits?
No. DOJ's guidance states that Elective Option offers are not offset by disability awards, payments or benefits received through the Department of Veterans Affairs, and that claimants who timely accept will not have VA benefits offset because of the settlement. That is a deliberate difference from awards obtained through litigation, which section 804(e)(2) of the Act does offset against VA, Medicare and Medicaid benefits relating to Camp Lejeune water exposure.
Does living on base as a family member count?
Yes. The Act covers an individual who 'resided, worked, or was otherwise exposed (including in utero)' for at least 30 days in the qualifying period — not only service members. DOJ's guidance allows someone who lived on base with a service member to rely on that service member's housing or employment documentation to prove the exposure period, and it includes an in utero exception based on the mother's exposure for at least 30 days in the nine months before birth.
Is Camp Lejeune part of the PACT Act?
It was enacted in the same law but does something different. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act is section 804 of the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022. The rest of that Act expands VA healthcare and disability benefits for toxic exposures; section 804 creates a right to sue the United States in court. VA benefits and a CLJA claim are separate processes, though an award in the second can be offset by the first.
What counts as Camp Lejeune for these claims?
The Elective Option defines Camp Lejeune as including both Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River. Notably, the Elective Option uses a base-wide approach to exposure: a claimant who resided or worked at Camp Lejeune during the statutory period qualifies on that basis even if they were not served by the specific contaminated systems at Tarawa Terrace, Hadnot Point or Holcomb Boulevard. In litigation, a plaintiff may need to show exposure to water from one of those systems.
Sources: Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, Pub. L. 117-168 § 804 (… · Public Guidance on the Elective Option for Camp Lejeune J… · Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims · Information Concerning Camp Lejeune Water Litigation; full list at the end of this page.
Track this docket
We re-read the JPML report on the first business day of each month. Get an email when this record changes: case count, status, or a settlement development.
Sources
- Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022, Pub. L. 117-168 § 804 (statutory text), U.S. Government Publishing Office. Accessed September 10, 2026.
- Public Guidance on the Elective Option for Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division. Accessed September 10, 2026.
- Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division. Accessed September 10, 2026.
- Information Concerning Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Accessed September 10, 2026.
- Case Management Order No. 2, In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, No. 7:23-cv-897, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Accessed September 10, 2026.
- Order establishing the master docket, In re: Camp Lejeune Water Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Accessed September 10, 2026.
- Frequently Asked Questions on the Elective Option for Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims (updated January 21, 2025), U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division. Accessed September 10, 2026.
- The Department of Justice Approves Historic Number of Settlements to Camp Lejeune Victims and Families, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. Accessed September 10, 2026.
- CLJA Claims Portal, U.S. Department of the Navy, Office of the Judge Advocate General. Accessed September 10, 2026.
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