Senate Passes Bill Allowing Camp Lejeune Residents to Seek Reparations for Toxic Exposure
JUSTICE
The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to pass the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, allowing former residents of the Marine Corps base in North Carolina to seek reparations from the government for exposure to contaminated water. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law next week. The U.S. government has acknowledged a link between toxic drinking water at the base and a variety of serious illnesses in military members and their families who’d lived there between 1953 and 1987. However, up until now, military families and civilians exposed to the waters were unable to sue for damages thanks to a North Carolina law limiting judicial claims against polluters like the base. The Daily Beast last month spoke with several victims and their families about the long fight to obtain justice for the Camp Lejeune exposures. One such victim, Michael Kirby, a cancer survivor who lost both parents to cancer after living at the base, told The Daily Beast on Thursday following the bill’s passing: “I’m glad I lived long enough to see this day this bill won’t bring my parents back. But I’m glad the United States government has finally taken responsibility this law should help a lot of good military families get some form of justice. It’s been a long time coming. I’m prouder to be an American.”