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Camp Lejeune, a Marine base in North Carolina that houses nearly 100,000 members of the military and their families, was found in 1982 to have tapwater with toxic levels of two suspected carcinogens. It was later determined that from 1957 to 1987, the camp's water supply was polluted with TCE, a solvent for degreasing, and PCE, a dry cleaning agent. According to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), these chemicals came from a dry cleaning establishment near the base and were present at levels 40 times higher than acceptable safety standards.

Hundreds of Legal Claims Based on Illnesses, Deaths

The ATSDR has been studying the Camp Lejeune contamination since 1993. More than 850 families have filed legal claims alleging that the toxic tapwater led to birth defects, cancer and deaths among camp residents. In emotional testimony Tuesday at a congressional hearing before the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, former Marines described the illnesses and developmental disabilities their children have suffered, including leukemia, spina bifida, aplastic anemia, and cleft palate. A Navy obstetrician described being diagnosed with lymphoma after living at Camp Lejeune.

Extremely High Levels of Toxins

A new study of the tapwater at Camp Lejeune was also released Tuesday. According to the ATSDR, the presence of the toxins was due to leaking underground storage tanks, spills and drum disposal, and solvent-disposal practices at an off-base dry cleaners. The maximum allowable amount of PCE per liter of water is 5 micrograms (mg), and the Camp Lejeune residents were drinking tapwater with 70 to 200 mg per liter.

In 2005, the ATSDR began a study of some 12,000 children of women who drank the base's tapwater while pregnant, titled "Exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds in Drinking Water and Specific Birth Defects and Childhood Cancers at United States Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina." No study has been done of the adults who lived on the base during the years in question. However, the ATSDR's website, www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune, has a section where individuals can enter the dates they lived at Camp Lejeune and learn more about their exposure to the toxins.

EPA: Obstruction of Justice?

At the House hearing, investigator Tyler Amon of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledged that officials had considered accusing some civilian Navy employees of obstruction of justice regarding the tapwater contamination. Amon testified despite objections from the Bush administration. He noted that some of employees who were interviewed during an EPA criminal investigation seemed to have been coached and were not forthcoming regarding details of the case.

The House committee's ranking Republican, Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, described his concern that criminal charges have not been pursued. "We have many people who have died," he said. "We have many people who have suffered significant health problems."

(Source: cnn.com)

Do you suspect that toxic water has harmed you or your family? Contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to discuss your case and explore your options.