"Nearly nine months after the government pledged to start compensating thousands of veterans sickened by toxic waters at Camp Lejeune, not a single claim has been settled, and the Navy says it needs to first launch an online portal to better manage the claims.

More than 45,000 claims have been filed since Congress authorized the possible payouts. At least 10 times as many more could land before the window closes in August 2024.

But the Navy, which oversees the Marine Corps base, told attorneys that government regulations and a lack of resources were responsible for slowing its review of claims, and its portal might not be ready until the summer. “The bad news is we are not ready to launch it,” the Navy acknowledged in an email earlier this year to claimants’ lawyers that was obtained by Bloomberg Law.

The delays have infuriated Camp Lejeune veterans, workers and their relatives who’ve spent decades trying to get treatment and compensation for cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and other health problems they blame on contaminated drinking water on the North Carolina base."

Kaustuv Basu reports for Bloomberg May 8, 2023. [2]