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| Mass Poisoning of Marines and Families at Camp Lejeune |
| 2009-05-30 |
| Camp Lejeune, a sprawling Marine base on the North Carolina seaboard, is the site of what some scientists call the worst public drinking-water contamination in the nation's history. Its water wells were tainted with cancer-causing industrial compounds for 30 years, ending in 1987. An estimated 500,000 to 1 million people -- including Marines and family living on base housing -- drank, bathed and cooked using that fouled water. Congress has dubbed ill Marines "poisoned patriots," and in 2008 lawmakers ordered the Marine Corps to notify those who might have been exposed. So far, almost 10,000 affected Floridians have registered with the Marine Corps to take part in a health study, the highest total for any state except North Carolina. About 1,500 claims have been filed against the government seeking $33.8-billion in damages. Among the chemicals detected in high concentrations at Camp Lejeune are a metal degreaser, trichloroethylene (TCE) and a degreaser and dry-cleaning agent called tetrachloroethylene (PCE). PCE appears to have been dumped by a private dry cleaner near one of the water wells, while the TCE was dumped by the Marine Corps, according to documents and investigators. Federal limits on the chemicals are 5-parts-per-billion. The highest level of Camp Lejeune water for TCE was about 1,400-parts-per-billion. PCE was found at levels over 200-parts-per-billion. This is the largest mass exposure from one water supply in the nation's history, Clapp said. No definitive and comprehensive epidemiology study has been conducted on Camp Lejeune veterans and their families to see if their rates of illness are significant, though two studies are expected to be completed in coming years. One will look at the potential effects on those exposed to contaminants in utero, a particular concern because the compounds have been linked to childhood leukemia and birth defects. Critics fault the Marine Corps with a decades-old campaign to either hide the contamination or minimize dangers and then doing too little to alert people. Just last month, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry took the rare step of withdrawing a 1997 health assessment that said Marines and their families faced little or no increased risk of cancer from the water. The agency did so because the report contained scientific inaccuracies and omissions. For example, it did not note that high levels of the carcinogen benzene were found in Camp Lejeune water in 1984. The Marine Corps discovered the water contamination in 1980, yet waited four years to close contaminated wells and then minimized the danger to Camp Lejeune residents, critics say. Two wells were later reopened for almost two years during a water shortage. In 1985, Lejeune's commander told residents "minute" levels of contaminants had been found, failing to disclose that a lab had informed the Marine Corps that water was "highly contaminated." Lt. Brian Block, a Marine spokesman, denied that the Marine Corps misled anyone. He insisted the wells were closed immediately when contamination was confirmed. "Since the contamination was first documented, we've taken steps to share all our information," Block said. "Our first priority is to take care of our Marines, active and retired." He noted that the contaminants were not regulated at the time they were discovered, a point the Marine Corps has emphasized through the years. That's not entirely true. Regulations promulgated as early as 1963 by the Navy, which also applied to the Marine Corps base, barred any harmful contaminants in drinking water. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #3 I can see it now, mini government issue brita personnel anti- legal suit filters for all personnel. Hoorah! |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-05-30 21:42 |
| #2 There are times when TOXNET is your friend. It is an impressively powerful database of chemical toxicity, and worthy of a bookmark: http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ Here is what the EPA says about the two named chemicals. http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/tri-ethy.html http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/tet-ethy.html |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-05-30 21:28 |
| #1 From Wikipedia (but accurate in this case): One part per billion (ppb): Denotes one part per 1,000,000,000 parts, one part in 109, and a value of 1 × 10–9. This is equivalent to 1 drop of water diluted into 250 chemical drums (50 m³), or one second of time in approximately 31.7 years. MASS POISONING! |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-05-30 20:00 |