Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins is urging those harmed by toxic water at Camp Lejeune to seek care through the VA, but he's also sounding an alarm about attorneys looking to take a significant cut of any settlement money their clients receive.

"I think it's moving ahead, and again, I would encourage every veteran out there to take, especially if they're associated with this, or even others, is get to the VA," Collins told the Just the News, No Noise TV show. "There's a lot of folks who've not taken advantage of the toxic screening that we're providing, making sure that they're getting the proper treatment and care that they may not know that they need."

Fewer than one percent of claimants have received any compensation.

The warning comes as the broader fight for compensation for Camp Lejeune victims remains painfully slow. More than three years after Congress opened the courthouse door for hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families poisoned by contaminated drinking water at the Marine Corps base, fewer than one percent of claimants have received any compensation.

The federal government has acknowledged that roughly one million service members, their families, and civilian workers were exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune — the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast, located outside Jacksonville, N.C. — between 1953 and 1987. 

The contamination stemmed from chemicals leaching into on-post water supplies from dry-cleaning solvents and other industrial waste. It wasn't disclosed until 1985, and the health risks weren't made public until the base was declared a Superfund site four years later. Health problems linked to the exposure include birth defects, numerous cancers, Parkinson's disease, and lung disease.

Congress passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act as part of the 2022 PACT Act, giving victims a two-year window to file administrative claims with the Navy. By the time that deadline passed in August 2024, the Navy faced more than 408,000 administrative claims, with more than 3,500 victims going on to file lawsuits.

To resolve claims more quickly than the litigation process allows, the Justice Department and the Navy created the Elective Option settlement program in September 2023. Since the launch, the government has approved more than $854 million in settlement offers, with more than $622 million actually paid out. Payments range from $100,000 to $550,000 depending on the claimant's illness and time spent at the base.

Collins expressed confidence that the pace of resolution will pick up, while also flagging a problem he said he is actively watching. "We need to get them in so that we can get them screened, but also I think you're going to see movement much forward in the issues around Lejeune, which a special settlement has been set up," he said. "I've been working with Senator Sullivan, who has done a great job of also highlighting the fact that there's a lot of, all of a sudden, lawyers and others who want to get involved in this and taking some fees that, frankly, are horrendously wrong."

Attorney's fees for administrative settlements are capped at 20 percent of the award

That concern about attorneys is backed up by the numbers. Under the Elective Option program, attorney fees for administrative settlements are capped at 20 percent of the award, and fees for cases already filed in court cannot exceed 25 percent. The Justice Department estimates that lawyers involved in Elective Option settlements have likely already collected more than $124 million in combined fees. 

Collins made clear the administration is paying attention. "So, we're watching this carefully," he said. "The President is very sensitive, I think, to the needs of our veterans who serve, even those at Lejeune, when there was a problem. We're working, and I think you'll see more and more improvements in that as we come. But again, from the VA, from the veteran perspective, if you have any sense, if you have anything you need, they need to come in. We'll do the screenings, we'll make sure that we have our giving every bit of care we can."

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a March statement that the department had "reprioritized approving settlements for Camp Lejeune victims and families, many of whom sadly had to wait years for justice," pledging to continue approving settlements on a weekly basis. Woodward also signed a memorandum making all 3,724 federal lawsuits eligible for consideration under the Elective Option.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs remain largely unimpressed. J. Edward Bell III, a lead attorney located in South Carolina for the plaintiffs' lawyers overseeing the case, called the DOJ's posture shortsighted.  

Many lawyers blaming federal government

Bell told Stars and Stripes, "We appreciate any acceleration of help," but argued that the government caused these problems in the first place, hiding the fact that the water was poisonous for decades, and should not now be touting incremental progress as a victory.

Another attorney, Ronald Miller, struck a similar tone, saying that "claimants continue to die" while lawyers argue over process, and that the veterans and their families "were poisoned on American soil while serving their country" and "should not have to spend their final years fighting the same government that made them sick."

About two dozen of the more than 3,700 lawsuits are headed to trial later this year in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. These so-called bellwether cases, representing each illness linked to the contamination, are expected to help shape what payments the government ultimately makes to the remaining claimants.