'A dog fight for the truth': 2 national advocates explain Camp Lejeune plight

Stephanie Warsmith, Akron Beacon Journal
Updated ·7 min read

Jerry Ensminger has now spent more time fighting for people sickened by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune than he spent in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Ensminger’s daughter Janey, who had lived at Camp Lejeune, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 6 and died when she was 8.

That sent Ensminger on a quest to figure out why she died and led him to research water issues at Camp Lejeune.

Mike Partain, who was born at Camp Lejeune, got breast cancer when he was 39 and discovered many men with connections to Camp Lejeune had also contracted this disease.

Camp Lejeune: 5 things to know about Camp Lejeune, what happened there and how to file a claim

Partain joined with Ensminger to lead an effort for many years to research what happened with the water at Camp Lejeune and try to get health benefits and compensation for those who worked at the Marine Corps base in North Carolina. Both men were featured in the 2011 documentary "Semper Fi: Always Faithful" about the Camp Lejeune water contamination.

“It has been a dog fight for the truth,” Partain, who lives in Florida, said during a recent Zoom call.

Mike Partain, left, and Jerry Ensminger bump fists in August 2022 outside of the White House after the signing of a bill that gave people who lived and worked at Camp Lejeune and became ill from contaminated water the right to sue the federal government. Partain and Ensminger have led a fight for many years to get help for Camp Lejeune victims.
Mike Partain, left, and Jerry Ensminger bump fists in August 2022 outside of the White House after the signing of a bill that gave people who lived and worked at Camp Lejeune and became ill from contaminated water the right to sue the federal government. Partain and Ensminger have led a fight for many years to get help for Camp Lejeune victims.

Most recently, Ensminger and Partain pushed for federal legislation that allows people who served and lived at Camp Lejeune and their families to file claims against and sue the federal government.

More than 227,000 people — including Ensminger and Partain — have filed claims.

'A toxic nightmare': 4 people share how Camp Lejeune destroyed their lives

With the deadline for filing these claims fast approaching on Aug. 10, the Beacon Journal recently talked to Ensminger, who lives in North Carolina, and Partain about their decades-long fight to advocate for Camp Lejeune victims and their families.

Is it correct that an estimated 1 million people may have been exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune?

Partain: Yes, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

When did the first federal legislation pass that aided Camp Lejeune victims and is referred to as the Janey Ensminger Act?

Ensminger: 2012.

What did this legislation do?

Ensminger: It provided health care and reimbursement for people, especially family members, who had come down with diseases.

Partain: It did not compensate prior to the bill signing. It did for 2012 forward.

Which agency handles these benefits?

Partain: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

What illnesses are covered in the law?

Partain: Eight conditions are presumptive, which gives veterans disability as well as medical: adult leukemia; aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes; bladder, kidney and liver cancer; multiple myeloma; non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; and Parkinson’s disease.

Partain: Fifteen conditions qualify for medical care: bladder, breast, esophageal, kidney and lung cancer; leukemia; female infertility; hepatic steatosis; miscarriage; multiple myeloma; myelodysplastic syndromes; neuro-behavioral effects;non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; renal toxicity; and scleroderma.

What did the Janey Ensminger Act not do?

Partain: It did not reimburse either party for costs before the law passed. Janey died in 1985, so this paid none of her medical bills. I was sick in 2007, so all my chemo and surgery were not reimbursed. If I get sick again, it will come in handy.

Which family members of Camp Lejeune victims qualify for federal Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)?

Partain: If you are in a presumptive category, you get DIC. Any other condition – you have to fight for it.

Jerry Ensminger, fifth from the left, watches as President Joe Biden prepares to sign legislation in August 2022 that gave people who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune and became ill from contaminated water the right to sue the federal government. Ensminger served in the Marine Corps, and his daughter, Janey, who lived on the base, died of leukemia.
Jerry Ensminger, fifth from the left, watches as President Joe Biden prepares to sign legislation in August 2022 that gave people who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune and became ill from contaminated water the right to sue the federal government. Ensminger served in the Marine Corps, and his daughter, Janey, who lived on the base, died of leukemia.

What did the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, signed into law in August 2022, do?

Ensminger: It allows us to seek relief through the court system.

Who is eligible to file a claim?

Partain: People who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days between 1953 and 1987.

Does a person have to have a certain illness to file a claim?

Partain: No. They have to prove (that the illness is linked to the contaminated water) in court.

How does someone file a claim?

Partain: They have to file an administrative claim with the Department of Navy. (The Navy is over the Marine Corps.) I would be talking to an attorney before I talk to the Navy.

Ensminger: Anybody who tries to file a lawsuit or legal claim pro se would have ‘a fool for a client.’

Partain: We talk to a lot of attorneys. From what we see, the Navy is fighting everything on this. No way I would want to do it myself.

Do people need to obtain documents before filing a claim?

Ensminger: We all need to be proactive – doing everything we can to find documents. If your spouse, brother or sister was on base, you need to find any kind of documents they kept that show they were on that base for at least 30 days.

What specific documents are needed to file a claim?

Ensminger: The full official personnel file – OMPF (Official Military Personnel File).

Partain: For dependents, if they contact the Marine Corps Installations East, they can request a copy of the family housing card.

If the person with the claim has died, is an estate required to be established?

Partain: They need to have an estate set up in the state where they died.

How many people have filed claims?

Partain: 227,000 (according to court records.)

What happens after a person files a claim?

Partain: The Navy has six months to respond. If they don’t respond or settle, the person has the right to file a suit in court.

How many people have filed lawsuits?

Partain: 1,700 suits filed in the courts. Until things are sorted out, the plaintiffs have been asked not to file. The 227,000 could all be suits.

How many people have been offered settlements by the Navy for presumptive illnesses caused by exposure at Camp Lejeune?

Partain: The Navy has extended offers to 60 people or so.

Ensminger: There are all kinds of parameters the Navy has implemented. If your attorney already filed a complaint, you don’t qualify. There are latency dates, if you were diagnosed later. It’s all crap.

Which trials are slated to start first in the fall?

Ensminger: They picked Track 1 diseases, the most serious ones in which people are apt to die quicker. These cases have the most scientific evidence.

Where are these cases pending?

Ensminger: It’s a mess – to have restricted them all to the Eastern District of North Carolina, which only has four judges, it could take forever.

Partain: At the first hearing, the judge said if they were to try them all, it would take as long as the Roman Empire unless they edge into settlement, which has not happened.

Do you have suggestions for choosing an attorney?

Partain: Getting an attorney is a personal decision. People click with certain people and not others. Look at what they are charging on fees and costs. Read the contract .... Look them up with the bar association. Do they have any bar complaints? Have they handled these types of cases?

Be careful. Don’t give information to people over the phone. If they call to solicit you, be very careful with them. You don’t know who they’ve talked to. Verify the information before you sign up.

Ensminger: It is illegal to solicit.

Partain: Feeder firms call people and get them to sign up and sell the list to an attorney.

More: Summit County warns of Camp Lejeune misinformation, scams

Have you heard about people signing on with law firms that later drop them?

Partain: This is nothing malicious. The firms realized they don’t have the ability to pursue the claim or the claim does not have merit.

Camp Lejeune is still open. Do you have concerns about whether the water there remains unsafe?

Partain: When we go, we don’t drink the water. The contamination is there. It will be past 2050 before it’s clean.

Ensminger: It won’t be clean then.

Where can people turn if they have questions?

Ensminger: For legal questions, contact an attorney.

Partain: Suggested websites:

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jerry Ensminger and Mike Partain lead fight for Camp Lejuene victims