Legal action involving environmental justice claims can be filed in local state or federal court. There are limited guidelines on who can bring an environmental justice claim. It largely depends on what type of claim it is.
For example, there are civil claims and criminal claims. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), criminal environmental justice cases can be brought by a number of federal organizations, including:
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- United States Fish and Wildlife Service
- United States Coast Guard
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement
These organizations handle criminal cases where a person or an organization broke environmental justice laws. While that organization may face a type of punishment, it may not help the victims of those crimes.
Private individuals can file a civil environmental justice claim provided that they meet the requirements. The only requirement is that the plaintiff, the person filing the claim, must be directly impacted by the actions the claim is based on. For example, you can file a claim if your drinking water is contaminated by the company that provides it. However, you cannot file a claim if the drinking water in a town three states over is contaminated. Since you are not affected by it, you cannot file a claim.
Understanding Environmental Justice
Environmental justice was developed to combat systemic problems that put specific groups at a higher risk from environmental factors. There are many laws that exist solely to address this problem. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), industry, municipalities, and businesses are required to follow federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies without discrimination. However, there are many cases where companies and other organizations fail to abide by appropriate laws.
For example, poor and minority communities are disproportionately affected by exposure to toxic substances, air pollution, and undrinkable water, often because of industry and municipality discrimination. While there are regulations in effect to prevent environmental racism, EPA title VI complaints abound. Our infrastructure should equally benefit and, by default, harm our communities regardless of race, income, immigrant status, or sex.
When environmental injustice happens, legal action is usually taken to address the problem. Through social change and effective legal practices, it is possible to try to fix the problems that environmental injustice creates. It is an ongoing problem, but some improvements have been made because of decades of dedicated work.
Filing an Environmental Justice Claim
Environmental justice claims are similar to filing any other lawsuit. If you are filing a civil suit, you begin by filing a complaint with the court. A lawyer can help you develop the paperwork that you need and help you go through the filing process. Other than a fee that is determined by the court, there are no other limitations on filing those claims.
Before you file a claim, it is in your best interest to discuss your case with a lawyer. To win your case, you will need extensive evidence and documentation to support your claims. Acquiring such evidence can be difficult without the aid of a lawyer since you will need documentation from the other party, governments, and other sources that can make accessing information difficult. Lawyers have experience collecting information from different sources, which can make the process much easier for you.
File a Claim for Health Problems Associated with Toxic Water at Camp Lejeune
For those who resided at Camp Lejeune, the toxic water they drank, bathed in, and cooked with wasn’t just an oversight. The entities responsible for ensuring the safety of our marines failed in every respect to ensure access to clean drinking water. Consequently, thousands of marines suffer significant health effects like cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, and Leukemia.
Thanks to recent legislation per the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, veterans who resided at Camp Lejeune and were exposed to toxic water for at least 30 days can take action. A lawyer can determine if you qualify and take the lead on your Camp Lejeune environmental injustice case.
Possible Compensation
The goal of your civil case is to collect financial compensation from liable parties to help you fix your finances and pay for your recovery. To do this, you will file claims for compensation based on your expenses. Any type of expense that you have that is directly related to your injuries and your recovery can be claimed in the lawsuit.
Medical expenses are the most commonly claimed type of expense. They also happen to be the largest cost people worry about after an injury. Medical bills can increase quickly and leave victims with a lot of medical debt. Having large amounts of medical debt can damage your finances for years. Collecting financial compensation will help minimize its impact and let you get back to your normal finances.
Depending on the type of expenses that you have, you may be able to claim property damage as well. This is applicable if the cost of fixing the problem that someone else caused involves repairing or replacing your property. For example, changing water chemistry that damages the pipes in your home may mean you have to repipe your entire house. You can claim this expense since it is the result of the problems that the water company caused.
Documenting all of your expenses is one of the best ways to ensure that you know how much compensation you should ask for. You need those records when filing a claim. If you do not know how much compensation you need, you will not be able to effectively recover enough to fix your finances.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
If your loved one is impacted by environmental injustice, you can bring an environmental justice claim on their behalf. Call Ben Crump Law, PLLC at (800) 595-2555 to learn more about who is eligible to bring forth legal claims for other people. The first consultation is free and you can have your legal questions answered.
