FIRST ON FOX - The Justice Department says it is speeding up settlement offers for people exposed to contaminated drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, under a compensation program created by Congress in 2022.
The law, formally titled the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, includes the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.
The statute allows service members, their families and others who lived or worked at the base between 1953 and 1987 to seek compensation if they developed cancer or other illnesses tied to the water supply on the base.
"At the direction of the president and attorney general, this Department of Justice has reprioritized approving settlements for Camp Lejeune victims and families, many of whom sadly had to wait years for justice," said Associate Attorney General for the Civil Division Stanley Woodward. "I am proud of the work we have done in the past year to speed up the compensation approval process and we will continue to approve settlements on a weekly basis."
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Between 1953 and 1987, three of the base's eight water systems contained contaminated water.
The Justice Department and the Department of the Navy launched the "Elective Option" settlement program in 2023. The program is designed as an alternative to litigation, offering faster payouts to people with qualifying illnesses.
Payments under the program range from $100,000 to $550,000 depending on the illness. Officials say victims can possibly qualify even if they were not assigned to a specific part of the base known to have received contaminated water.
According to the DOJ, Woodward has recently taken responsibility for approving settlement offers under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. In the last three weeks, he approved 649 settlement offers totaling about $175 million.
That represents more than a 25% increase in approved offers since the Elective Option program began in September 2023.
Overall, the Justice Department says it has approved 2,531 settlement offers through the program, totaling roughly $708 million.
DOJ officials also tell Fox News that more than $481 million in settlements has been paid out since Jan. 27, 2025, and offers continue to be approved on a weekly basis as the department works through a massive backlog of claims.
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Behind the scenes, top leadership at the DOJ also recently changed who has authority to approve these settlements.
When the Elective Option program was announced in September 2023, then-Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta delegated settlement authority to senior officials in the Civil Division. That authority was later passed down to a career manager.
Earlier this year, on Feb. 10, Woodward revoked that delegation and took control of the approval process.
Justice Department officials say the move is part of a broader effort to accelerate settlement offers and move claims through the system more quickly.
