The justices ruled 7-2 that North Carolina's law requiring lawsuits to be brought within 10 years of the contamination is not superseded by a federal law designed to give victims a two-year opportunity to file claims after the pollution comes to light. At least four states have similar laws.
That could spell trouble not only for the Asheville, N.C., property owners seeking to recover damages from an electronics company for contamination that occurred at least 30 years ago, but for veterans who have fought for years to win damages from the Navy for deaths and illnesses caused by toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune.
The case was notable because the Obama administration opposed the residents' claims, even after President Obama signed a law in 2012 that provided health benefits to Camp Lejeune veterans and family members. The law was named after Janey Ensminger, who died in 1985 at age 9 of a rare form of leukemia.
Her Marine veteran father, Jerome Ensminger, who has led a lengthy battle on behalf of veterans and families from Camp Lejeune, criticized the government after the ruling was announced.
"I certainly don't want to hear anything from the Obama administration nor the Democratic Party about their being champions of the environment," Ensminger said. "They are only champions of the environment when the conditions are favorable to their needs."
The ruling came from Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was joined by the court's other conservatives as well as Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Dissenting were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
READ MORE: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/09/supreme-court-toxic-water-marines/9968805/
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