Camp Lejeune Water Contamination: Your Benefits Explained
Veterans and families who lived at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 may qualify for presumptive VA benefits — and a separate legal claim. Here is the difference.
Between August 1953 and December 1987, the drinking water at Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River in North Carolina was contaminated with industrial chemicals. Decades later, the law finally caught up — and there are now two separate paths to compensation, which veterans often confuse.
Path 1: Presumptive VA disability benefits
If you served at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 cumulative days during that window, certain conditions are presumptive for VA disability compensation — including adult leukemia, aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Parkinson’s disease.
Path 2: The Camp Lejeune Justice Act
Enacted within the PACT Act, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 also created a separate legal claim — open not just to service members but to family members and others who lived or worked on base and were harmed. This is a legal claim, distinct from VA disability compensation, and the two do not cancel each other out.
Confirm the window
Exposure Lookup by Duty Station
Check your Camp Lejeune dates and see the conditions tied to the contaminated-water presumption.
Who is covered
The presumption covers active duty, National Guard, and Reserve members who met the 30-day threshold. Family members who lived on base are the group most helped by the separate Justice Act claim.
Learn more in our Toxic Exposure guide.
General information, not legal advice. Eligibility depends on the facts of your case. We are not the VA.
Every figure on this site is an estimate that depends on your specific situation and the VA’s decision. If you’d like a real person to look at your case, Albert Thombs is a VA-accredited claims agent (accreditation #45147). Reviews are free and no-obligation — there’s no pressure and no fee unless we win. This article is general information, not legal advice, and we are not the VA.
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