Navy says it will deny civil claims relating to water contamination at military base

Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer announced Thursday that the Department of the Navy will deny all remaining civil claims made by people who were exposed to contaminated drinking water at a major US Marine Corps base, a decision that will affect some 4,400 claimants.

The claims allege personal injury or wrongful death resulting from exposure to hazardous chemicals from the 1950s to the 1980s that were accidentally introduced into drinking wells located at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, a major base that houses thousands of US Marines, their families and support staff.
The Navy said that the amount of money requested by each claimant varied significantly but that the total amount claimed by all claimants was approximately $963 billion, including a single claim for $900 billion.