Celeb consumer advocate Erin Brockovich is coming to Wilmington. Here's what to know.
Famed environmental activist and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich will host a town hall in Wilmington this weekend to highlight potential legal settlements available to victims of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
In August, President Joe Biden signed into law the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. The law allows anyone who used contaminated water at the North Carolina Marine Corps Base, from 1953 to 1987, to recover damages for toxic exposure through regal recourse.
Advocates with Camp Lejeune Legal are now touring America hosting town halls to educate people on their rights. One of the advocates is Erin Brockovich, who helped win a $333 million settlement in California decades ago for people whose water had been poisoned by Pacific Gas & Electric.
The dynamic environmental activist and consumer advocate was immortalized in the 2000 American biographical legal drama "Erin Brockovich" starring Julia Roberts.
Here’s what you need to know.
Contaminated Water at Camp Lejeune?
For decades high levels of volatile organic compounds, including some cancer causing chemicals, were allowed to leak into groundwater at one of the largest Marine bases on the East Coast, Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C.
From the 1950s through the 1980s more than a million servicemembers, military families and other civilians were thought to have been exposed to the toxic water. It has been found that it poisoned hundreds of thousands of people, including children in-utero, leading to birth defects and fatal illnesses such as cancer.
A Survivor’s Fight:NC woman shares story of life ravaged by toxic water at Camp Lejeune
What's being done to help?
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act allows people who lived or worked at the base for at least 30 days between 1952 and 1987 and were exposed to the contaminated water to file a claim for compensation against the U.S. government.
The act prohibits the government from asserting specific immunity from litigation and overrides a North Carolina statute that precludes tort claim filings after 10 years.
What about the town hall?
Brockovich and the Camp Lejeune Legal team will hold a town hall on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the American Legion Post 10, 702 Pine Grove Dr. in Wilmington at 9 a.m. Speakers will feature family members of the victims of water contamination and will include information to help those impacted by toxic water to know their rights.
The Wilmington town hall is just one stop in a series of events across the state that over the next two weeks will highlight the issues, starting in Jacksonville, Oct. 27. Events will also take place in Raleigh, Greensboro, and Winston Salem. For more information on the Camp Lejeune Justice Act or the upcoming town halls, visit https://camplejeunelegal.com
Reporter John Orona can be reached at 910-343-2327 or jorona@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Erin Brockovich holds town hall in Wilmington for water contamination