Drinking water contaminated

From at least 1957 through 1987, Marines and their families at Lejeune drank and bathed
in water contaminated with toxicants at concentrations 240 to 3,400 times permitted by
safety standards. A 1974 base order required safe disposal of solvents and warned that
improper handling could cause drinking water contamination, yet solvents were dumped
or buried near base wells for years The base's wells were shut off in the mid-1980s but
were placed back online in violation of the law In 1982, volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) were found in Camp Lejeune's drinking water supply. VOC
contamination of groundwater can cause birth defects and other ill health effects in
pregnant and nursing mothers. This information was not made public for nearly two
decades when the government attempted to identify those who may have been exposed.

An advocacy group called The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten was created to inform
possible victims of the contamination at Lejeune. The group's website includes an
introduction with some basic information about the contamination at Lejeune, including
that many health problems various types of cancer, leukemia, miscarriages and birth
defects, have been noted in people who drank the contaminated water. According to the
site, numerous base housing areas were affected by the contamination, including Tarawa
Terrace, Midway Park, Berkeley Manor, Paradise Point, Hadnot Point, Hospital Point,
and Watkins Village.[9] As many as 500,000 people may have been exposed to
contaminated water at Camp Lejeune over a period of 30 years.

Camp LeJeune Justice Act of 2022

Efforts to create a Camp LeJeune Justice Act in 2021 failed, but the effort was renewed
in 2022 when Camp LeJeune Justice Act became Section 706 of the SFC Heath Robinson
Honoring Our PACT Act, H.R. 3967. The U.S. House passed H.R. 3967 on March 3,
2022, by a vote of 256–174. The U.S. Senate passed H.R. 3967 with some minor
amendments on June 16, 2022, by a vote of 84–14. Following the bill’s passage in the
U.S. Senate, President Biden's White House made a celebratory statement that included
mention of Camp LeJeune victims.[15] There were constitutional taxation problems with
the amended version and a "blue slip" was issued causing the matter to return to the U.S.
House. The U.S. House made the changes necessary to avoid the constitutional issue and
passed the PACT Act on July 13, 2022, by a vote of 342–88. This new PACT Act was
repackaged as S. 3373 with the Camp LeJeune Justice Act set as Section 804. Some
Republican senators changed their votes and refused cloture on July 27, 2022, by a vote
of 55-42. After several days of veterans protesting at the Capitol, there was another vote
on S. 3373 and this time it passed by a vote of 86-11 on August 2, 2022. The bill was
signed into law by President Biden on August 10, 2022.

The language of Section 804 provides for monetary relief for those injured by exposure
to the Camp LeJeune base and its toxic water.[23] Thirty days of "living" or "working" or
"otherwise" being exposed between 1953 and 1987 is the prerequisite for compensation.
This includes in-utero exposure. Harms must be demonstrated and they must be
associated with some condition caused by the base toxicants. Some of the possible
conditions may include those listed for the Janey Ensminger Act of 2012. 38 C.F.R.
17.400(b).[24]

The Camp Lejeune water contamination problem occurred at Marine Corps Base
Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, from 1953 to 1987.[1] During that
time, United States Marine Corps (USMC) personnel and families at the base bathed in
and ingested tap water contaminated with harmful chemicals at all concentrations from
240 to 3400 times current safe levels. An undetermined number of former residents later
developed cancer or other ailments, which could be due to the contaminated drinking
water. Victims claim that USMC leaders concealed knowledge of the problem and did
not act properly to resolve it or notify former residents.
In 2009 the U.S. federal government initiated investigations into the allegations of
contaminated water and failures by U.S. Marine officials to act on the issue. In August
2012, President Obama signed the Janey Ensminger Act into law to begin providing
medical care for people who may have been affected by the contamination. In February
2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the contaminated water
at Camp Lejeune significantly increased the risk of possibly contracting multiple
diseases, though they did not say that the water actually caused any disease. The PACT
Act of 2022, Sec. 804, is the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022. It provides damages for
past injuries from Camp Lejeune toxic exposure. It is the first such law that provides
compensation to the civilian family members of veterans stationed at the base as well as
those who came onto the base for work.

Early Report.
From August 1, 1953 through December 31, 1987 (sometimes from January 1, 1950
through December 31, 1985), Marines and personnel of any branch of the armed forces
and their families stationed at Camp Lejeune's main base, barracks, family, temporary
housing, Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point may have consumed, and bathed in, water
contaminated with toxins at concentrations from 240 to 3400 times levels permitted by
safety standards. As a result, at least 850 former residents filed claims for nearly
$4 billion from the military. The contamination appears to have affected the water from
two of the eight water wells on the base.[2] The main chemicals involved were volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) such as perchloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning solvent,
and trichloroethylene (TCE), a degreaser; however, more than 70 chemicals have been
identified as contaminants at Lejeune.[3] The base's wells were shut off in the mid-1980s,
after which the water met federal standards, then they were placed back online in violation
of the law.[3][4] The National Research Council of the National Academies released a
report based upon a literature review of PCE and TCE in July 2009.[5] The report failed
to assess other contaminants, such as benzene and vinyl chloride, and concluded that the
water at the base was tainted between 1950 and 1985, but that the contamination could
not be linked to any health problems.[6][7] However, on October 22, 2010, a letter from
the Director of the government agency tasked to study health effects at Superfund sites,
such as Camp Lejeune, illustrated the limitations of the 2009 literature review and advised
that there "was undoubtedly a hazard associated with drinking the contaminated water at
Camp Lejeune".[8]
In 1980, the base began testing the water for trihalomethanes in response to new
regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That same year, a
laboratory from the U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency began
finding halogenated hydrocarbons in the water. In March 1981, one of the lab's reports,
which was delivered to U.S. Marine officials, stated, "Water is highly contaminated with
other chlorinated hydrocarbons (solvents)!"[9]
Possible sources of the contamination include solvents from a nearby, off-base dry
cleaning company, from on-base units using chemicals to clean military equipment, and
leaks from underground fuel storage tanks.[2] In 1982, a private company, Grainger
Laboratories, contracted by the USMC to examine the problem provided the base
commander with a report showing that the wells supplying water for the base were
contaminated with trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene (also known as
perchlorethylene). The contractor delivered repeated warnings to base officials, including
base chemist Elizabeth Betz, that the water was contaminated. A representative from
Grainger, Mike Hargett, stated that he went with Betz in July 1982 to inform an unnamed
Marine lieutenant colonel who was deputy director of base utilities about the problems
with the water. According to Hargett, the Marine was unwilling to discuss Hargett's
concerns. In August 1982, a Grainger chemist, Bruce Babson, sent a letter to the base
commander, Marine Major General D. J. Fulham, warning him that the base wells
appeared to be poisoned. The water from the contaminated wells, however, continued in
use at the base.[9][10]
Grainger continued to warn Marine officials of problems with the water in December
1982, March 1983, and September 1983. In a spring 1983 report to the EPA, Lejeune
officials stated that there were no environmental problems at the base. In June 1983, North
Carolina's water supply agency asked Lejeune officials for Grainger's lab reports on the
water testing. Marine officials declined to provide the reports to the state agency. In
December 1983 Lejeune officials scaled back the water testing performed by Grainger.[9]

Future Report
In July 1984, a different company contracted under the EPA's Superfund review of
Lejeune and other sites found benzene in the base's water, along with PCE and TCE.
Marine officials shut down one of the contaminated wells in November 1984 and the
others in early 1985. The Marines notified North Carolina of the contamination in
December 1984. At this time the Marines did not disclose that benzene had been
discovered in the water and stated to the media that the EPA did not mandate unacceptable
levels of PCE and TCE.[9]
In 1997 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) investigated
the well water and concluded that cancer derived from exposure to the water was unlikely.
According to a federal investigation, ATSDR investigators overlooked evidence of
benzene in the water when preparing the report.[11]
On April 28, 2009, the ATSDR admitted that the water had been contaminated
with benzene and withdrew the 1997 report.[12] The benzene most likely occurred as a
result of 800,000 gallons of fuel that leaked from the base fuel farm during the years in
question. The fuel leaks occurred near the main well that serves Hadnot Point, location
of enlisted and officer's quarters and the base hospital.[13] For unknown reasons, the
presence of benzene in the water had been omitted from the USMC report submitted for
federal health review in 1992, in spite of the USMC being aware of its presence. The
report had been prepared by a contractor, Baker Corp.[14] State officials had also
reportedly informed the ATSDR in 1994 about the presence of benzene in the water.[11]