Noteboom The Law Firm

Contamination at Camp Lejeune Subject of Federal Lawsuit

August 9, 2010 - Camp Lejeune has certainly had its share of press lately regarding the presence of toxic materials in the base's water supply. Most recently, former Marine John Edwards and Connie, his wife, filed a lawsuit against Camp Lejeune following the death of their 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer, who died one day following her hospitalization. Jennifer died of brain cancer and their son, Lee Edwards, has been diagnosed with the same. The Edwards children are not the only people exposed to the contaminated water that have come away with serious medical conditions.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on July 26, 2010. Edwards and his wife allege their daughter's brain cancer was directly caused by the tainted drinking water flowing on Camp Lejeune in the 1980's. Further, they allege their son's astrocytoma brain cancer, which is currently in stage 2 and incurable, was also a result of the contaminated water. Both children lived on Camp Lejeune from March of 1985 to June of 1988. The Edwards are alleging the Marine Corps should have known the solvents present in the water supply would cause health problems to include: 

• Cancers;
• Liver damage;
• Kidney damage;
• Central nervous system disturbances;
• Disfigurement;
• Suffering; and
• Potential death.

Numerous veterans and their family members have been diagnosed with varying types of cancers, which have been linked to the poison chemicals that existed in Lejeune's water supply. That the water supply caused these cancers has, of course, been denied by both the Marine Corps and the Navy. These cancer causing chemicals include:  

• Trichloroethylene;
• Tetrachloroethylene; and
• Benzene.

Navy spokespeople have released a statement saying 2 similar lawsuits have been dismissed and 4 are currently pending. Several thousand claims, however, have been filed regarding injuries and diseases linked to Camp Lejeune's water supply. Hopefully there will soon be rulings establishing one way or another how these claims and cases will be handled.