Cherry Point is not included in the Camp Lejeune lawsuit. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 covers water contamination only at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River, both near Jacksonville, North Carolina. MCAS Cherry Point sits roughly 90 miles northeast in Havelock and has its own documented contamination problems, but it falls entirely outside the statute. The filing window closed on August 10, 2024, so the Department of the Navy is no longer accepting new CLJA claims from anyone, regardless of duty station.
What the Camp Lejeune Justice Act Actually Covers
The CLJA is Section 804 of the PACT Act, signed into law on August 10, 2022. It created a federal cause of action for anyone exposed to contaminated water “at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina” for at least 30 cumulative days between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987.1Congress.gov. Public Law 117-168 PACT Act of 2022 The law waives the federal government’s sovereign immunity and overrides North Carolina’s statute of repose, both of which had previously blocked these lawsuits.2U.S. Department of Justice. Camp Lejeune Water Litigation Statement of Interest Regarding Attorneys Fees
The contamination centered on three water treatment systems at Camp Lejeune: Tarawa Terrace, Hadnot Point, and Holcomb Boulevard.3U.S. Department of Justice. Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims Sampling identified four primary contaminants: trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), vinyl chloride, and benzene.4Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Chemicals Involved
Although the statute names only “Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,” the Navy’s settlement framework treats MCAS New River as part of the covered area. The Elective Option guidance calculates exposure duration based on time at “Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune or Marine Corps Air Station New River.”5Department of the Navy. Public Guidance on Elective Option for Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims New River sits adjacent to Camp Lejeune and historically shared infrastructure with the main base. Cherry Point does not.
Why Cherry Point Sits Outside the Statute
MCAS Cherry Point is a separate installation with its own water supply and its own contamination history. The CLJA was written to address a specific problem: decades of toxic chemicals leaching into Camp Lejeune’s drinking water from an off-base dry cleaner, on-base industrial operations, and leaking underground storage tanks. Cherry Point’s contamination comes from different sources, on different timelines, and involves a partially different mix of chemicals, including PFAS from firefighting foam.
Cherry Point does have serious documented environmental problems. The EPA placed the base on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List in 1994 for contaminated groundwater, soil, sediment, and surface water tied to base operations.6U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Superfund Site Superfund listing and CLJA eligibility are separate things. The CLJA is a narrow statute tied to one base’s water system during one time period. Time at Cherry Point, no matter how long or how contaminated the water was, does not qualify anyone under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.
The Filing Deadline Has Closed
The CLJA gave potential claimants a two-year window to file administrative claims with the Department of the Navy, running from August 10, 2022, through August 10, 2024. The Navy is no longer accepting new claims under the law.7Department of the Navy. Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims That closure applies to everyone, and it removes any question of whether a Cherry Point veteran could try to argue their way into the program now. The door is shut.
Claimants who filed before the cutoff still have options if their claim was denied or has sat without a decision for more than six months. They can file suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, which has exclusive jurisdiction over CLJA cases.8United States Department of the Navy. Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims Submission Process That path is closed to anyone who did not file an administrative claim before August 10, 2024.
Who Was Eligible Under the CLJA
Eligibility required showing at least 30 cumulative days of exposure to water at Camp Lejeune between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987.1Congress.gov. Public Law 117-168 PACT Act of 2022 Service members, family members who lived on base, and civilian employees all could qualify. Children exposed in utero also qualified if their mother met the 30-day threshold during the nine months before birth.5Department of the Navy. Public Guidance on Elective Option for Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims
The Elective Option framework does not require proof that a claimant lived or worked in the specific housing or work areas served by the contaminated systems. Anyone who resided or worked anywhere at Camp Lejeune during the statutory period qualifies, provided the other requirements are met.3U.S. Department of Justice. Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claims That broad reading covers the Camp Lejeune footprint. It does not extend the statute to other bases.
Options if You Were Stationed at Cherry Point
Being outside the CLJA is not the same as being out of options. Veterans who developed health problems they believe are linked to contaminated water at Cherry Point still have avenues, though each requires more work than the streamlined CLJA process would have.
The most established route is VA disability compensation. Unlike the Camp Lejeune presumptive conditions the VA recognizes for that base, no list of conditions is automatically linked to Cherry Point service. A veteran filing a claim needs to build the medical nexus themselves. That typically means service records placing you at the base, medical records diagnosing a qualifying condition, and documentation of the toxic exposure. Cherry Point’s Superfund designation and the EPA’s records of groundwater contamination there can support the exposure element of the claim.6U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station Superfund Site
The contamination at Cherry Point involved volatile organic compounds near maintenance facilities and fuel storage areas, plus PFAS compounds from firefighting foam. PFAS litigation is developing quickly, and some attorneys are looking at whether broader environmental tort claims can be brought for Cherry Point exposures. Those claims would not use the CLJA’s streamlined process and would face the traditional hurdles of suing the federal government, but they are worth raising with an attorney who handles military toxic exposure cases.
For comparison, the VA recognizes eight presumptive conditions specifically for Camp Lejeune water contamination: adult leukemia, aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Parkinson’s disease.9Department of Veterans Affairs. Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Health Issues A Cherry Point veteran with one of these diagnoses does not get the automatic connection that a Camp Lejeune veteran does, but the same medical evidence can still be used to build a direct-service-connection claim tied to Cherry Point exposures.