Appeals Court Seeks New Briefs In Camp Lejeune Water Pollution Tort Case

摘要

A federal appeals court is asking the Justice Department (DOJ) and former residents of a Marine Corps base in North Carolina to provide supplemental briefs in a high-profile environmental tort case on whether a recent state law clarifying when such suits may be filed applies retroactively to the pending litigation. Both DOJ and the former residents have already taken initial opposing positions over whether the law applies retroactively to the case, which could expose the federal government to significant injury claims as up to 1 million people living or working at the base may have been exposed to contaminated drinking water over several decades. In an Aug. 12 letter, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11 th Circuit asks the parties in Bryant v. United States to file letter briefs by Aug. 26 addressing the question of whether the plaintiffs' actions are barred by North Carolina's statute of repose in light of a pair of state laws enacted June 20 and June 30 that amended the state's statute of repose to allow citizens to sue responsible parties, even after the 10-year limitations period, for exposure to chemicals at waste sites if the contamination stems from groundwater.