"Compensation claims filed by veterans and others who say they were sickened by toxic water at Camp Lejeune already total nearly $3.3 trillion, US Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing.

That figure was disclosed for the first time in a 17-page memo government lawyers filed Friday in a bid to limit legal fees collected by attorneys in the case, which is being litigated in the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Congressional budget analysts had previously projected the government could expect to pay out as much as $21 billion."

Kaustuv Basu reports for Bloomberg Environment October 30, 2023. [2]