PRESS RELEASE 9th
Senator Thom Goolsby District - new Hanover County 919-715-2525 406 Legislative Office Building Raleigh, N.C. 27603
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 19, 2014
Contact: Sen. Thom Goolsby, 910-262-7401
Senate Seeks Recourse for Victims of Toxic Water at Camp Lejeune, Asheville CTS Corp. Plant Raleigh, N.C. – Yesterday the North Carolina Senate concurred with a House proposal allowing victims of toxic water near Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and a CTS Corp. plant in Asheville to seek legal reparations. On June 9, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s ruling that victims were entitled to legal action based on the supremacy of federal law to a state statute of repose. Senate Bill 574 creates an exception to the North Carolina statute of repose for claims based on exposure to contaminated groundwater. Sen. Goolsby made the following statement of support for the measure: “When we start talking about groundwater contamination, this is totally different than the products liability issues that were addressed in that original legislation. When you talk about substances like those to which Master Sergeant Ensminger’s daughter was exposed and which subsequently killed her, these substances are unknown, the exposure itself is unknown at the time, and the time of the exposure itself is unknown. These substances also have latency periods which can last decades. The original legislators writing the statute of repose had absolutely no thoughts of groundwater contamination or similar things which would expose people to these kinds of harmful contaminants. The General Assembly must clarify the text of the statute in order to protect the original intent of the 1979 Act’s drafters.” The bill now advances to the desk of Gov. Pat McCrory for final authorization. ###