House Panel Probes "Poisoned Patriots"

Ex-Marines Seek Nearly $4B For Exposure To Chemicals At Camp Lejeune

(CBS/AP)  Marine families who lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina over three decades drank water contaminated with toxins as much as 40 times over today's safety standard, federal health investigators said Tuesday.

The government disclosed results from a new scientific study on the same day that some families testified for Congress about cancers and other illnesses they blame on drinking tainted tap water at the sprawling training and deployment base.

The House Energy and Commerce panel on oversight and investigations, which is holding a hearing on the subject, describes the sickened Marines as "poisoned patriots."

Chemicals from a local dry cleaners seeped into Lejeune's water for three decades, reports CBS News national security correspondent David Martin. During that time, 75,000 people lived there and some 20,000 children were born.

The Marines discovered the contaminants in 1982 but allowed the families to keep drinking the water for another five years before they shut down all the wells, adds Martin. It took until 2000 to notify families who drank the water.

At least 850 former residents of the base have filed administrative claims, seeking nearly $4 billion, for exposure to the industrial solvents TCE and PCE that contaminated Camp Lejeune's drinking wells before 1987.

"My wife and I now have new full-time careers just staying alive and figuring out how to pay for it all," said former Navy Dr. Michael Gros of Spring, Texas. He was stunned to learn years after his work in the 1980s as an obstetrician and gynecologist at Camp Lejeune that he had a rare non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Gros told lawmakers Tuesday that he has accumulated medical bills of more than $4.5 million and that he worries regularly about bankruptcy.

The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said its new modeling and analysis of Camp Lejeune's Tarawa Terrace drinking water system from 1957 to 1987 found levels of the dry-cleaning solvent PCE, or tetrachloroethylene, as high as 200 parts per billion, compared to 5 parts per billion that federal regulators in 1992 would set as the maximum allowable level.

The Navy Judge Advocate General's office promised lawmakers it will "thoroughly analyze each and every claim utilizing the best scientific research available," according to prepared testimony. It is waiting for a government scientific study about how the water affected babies in utero.

Federal health officials have new analyses indicating Camp Lejeune's water was contaminated as far back as 1957 and up to 1987. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry cites the new endpoint — nearly two years after the Marines said they closed all the tainted wells — in a continuing study on whether Camp Lejeune's water led to leukemia and birth defects in children. That study is expected to be finished as early as the end of the year.

TCE, or trichloroethylene, is a degreasing solvent, and PCE, or tetrachloroethylene, is a dry-cleaning agent. The government describes them as probable carcinogens.

Marine Corps officials said that Camp Lejeune provided water consistent with industry practices of the time, and that its Marines' health and safety are of primary concern.

Jerry Ensminger of White Lake, N.C., a Marine for 24 years, lost his 9-year-old daughter to leukemia. In heart-rending testimony, he described comforting her during agonizing cancer treatments. He said toward the end of her life, she endured taunts from classmates teasing her about her appearance after chemotherapy.

"It is time for the United States Marine Corps to live up to their motto 'Semper Fidelis,"' always faithful, Ensminger said.

Marine officials have said they didn't immediately act when they learned of the contaminants because the federal standards were not yet in place.

The health agency estimated 75,000 people lived in the affected base neighborhood during those three decades.

The agency launched a new Web site for people to learn the levels of contamination that came from their faucets at different times.

The newly released study is part of the health agency's ongoing investigation into whether exposure to the solvents caused birth defects and leukemia in babies.

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[sjc_1]

Military bases all over have similar problems. I guess they think that since the military fights for our freedoms, they should be exempt from our environmental laws. I don't think you are truly free when you are dying from chemically induced illness brought on by governmental recklessness.

[sassalin]

gkc99,

This started in the 1950's thru the 1980's. Last time I checked Bush was not in office. Sorry but can't blame this one on him.

I hope the families do recieve the help they need!!

[talkingham]

No can't blame Bushie on this one but his track record of getting anything done to help people such as after katrina is a total embrassment, so unless you are an extended family member of Bushie, such as a Saudi or Kawaiti oil shiek don't expect much help.

[pleiku1]

Camp Kinzer, Marine base in Okinawa, Japan, is located close to a giant incinerator. On the Japanese map, the incinerator is shown as "Green Park". Japanese incinerators are noted for producing high amount of dioxin from burning plastic wrappings, so common in Japan. I noticed the incinerator never operated during the day, only at night.

[gkc99]

sassalin:

Yes, the disregard of veteran's health, once they had served their purpose, goes back to the days when GW Bush was dodging the draft. The brass and the political leaders brushed the damage done by Agent Orange under the carpet during the Vietnam was. However, the Bush administration has shown a high degree of disregard of soldier's health, such as the lack of body armor and lack of armored vehicles at the time of the optional invasion (it could have waiting 6 months easily), and the high toll being taken by the much more serious injuries that are survived in the present war. Bush certainly has responsibility for what happens now.

[sclaires]

There were many incidents of lack of proper containment of chemicals at Fort Jackson, SC in the past. The furniture repair show did not have proper ventilation for chemicals used to strip paint off of furniture or when furniture was painted. The automotive shop had asbestos floating through the air all the time in addition to the chemicals which where used to clean motors, etc of equipment. All three of these shops had I don't know how many to get sick from or die from the chemicals which were floating through the air all the time. The water supply for the whole installation was contaminated with Lord only knows what. You could let water sit in a container for a while and things would participate down to the bottom. It was nothing but a disaster waiting to happen and still is happening. And nothing has been done to clean up all the contamination.

[sclaires]

P.S. I forgot to mention the typewriter shop where chemicals were used to clean typewriters, adding machines, etc. And, all without proper ventilation.

[atkao]

Why is it that military/government personnel are the only ones to recieve attention regarding contamination/pollution? what about the patriotic citizens of this country? What has been done for them after they and their food sources have been exposed to contamination at the direction of the government? Example: the Aleut People in Alaska after several mega-ton nuclear bombs were detonated underground at Amchitka Island in the 1970's. Nothing is being done to bring attention to their suffering, illness and pain.

[taylpatr]

Our government has a shameful history of neglecting the men and women we send off to do our dirty work.I realize that it's now an all volunteer military, but I don't think anybody volunteered to be lied to by the people who are supposed to be looking out for them.Having never been in the military, I would like to ask one question:Do men in combat situations lie like the stateside pencil pushers? I didn't think so. Godspeed to all of you in uniform, and I hope they stop lying to you and treat you with the dignity you deserve. The son of a Marine.

[tomtomasters]

The Who???????????????
Ronald Reagan didn't even win a cow chip. He didn't win the cold war.. It was the Kiribati people. Who? Yeah the Kiribati people who live on the Kiribati Islands in the S. Pacific who took the brunt of American Atomic Bomb tests authorized by the Kennedy administration.
Kennedy authorized Operation Dominic a total of 36 atomic atmospheric bomb blasts over the Kiribati Islands. We dropped 2 on Japan, the so called attackers of Pearl Harbor, and while they lost the war, they have managed to become the 2nd largest economy in the World. Go Figure!
The Kiribati people started no war, but received 36 atomic bomb blasts. No one will convince me, or the public that no radiation was present and did no harm to the environment. You know it has been buried in the web of history, because of the liability the US government owes to the World and Kiribati Islanders for the massive radiation poisoning. I assure you it is 10 times worse than Chernobyl, and all the nuclear facility accidents if they were combined into one event.

[tomtomasters]

And today the Kiribati people live in obscurity. They live in abject poverty. They can't even afford a representative to attend UN meetings. We didn't care about them during the COLD WAR atomic bomb tests, why should we care about them now, when encroaching ocean waters will swallow the Islands before 2050 due to Global Warming.
How bad does the USA get? Instead of accepting their bad decisions of atomic testing, and paying for their environmental damage and havoc on the world, they bury it in history, with hope to never bring to the light of day their crimes. If Amercica was an honest broker and took responsibilty by paying for their crimes, helping the Kiribati people, then perhaps so called rogue nations such as N. Korea or Iran would see the real problem in making nuclear weapons. First of all you can't have a nuclear weapon unless you test it, and that is the trouble. Test where? Underground? You contaminate ground water aquafers. In the atmosphere? So radiation goes across the planet in every direction!No it wasn't Reagan, or Kennedy, or Bush, or anyone in the USA that won the COLD WAR. It is surely a people we used, we bombed, we forgot about, we drove into poverty, and continue to don't recognize while we plan to destroy them by not stopping Global Warming. Yeah the Kiribati People. The Who????????? The what??..milk-itary Chemicals At Camp Lejeune? Get out of town!

[giladyj]

If you think that this is the first time, you are very, very worng. In fact it is happening again right NOW! At Ft. Lewis in Washington. The Army post is very aware that they bad water, water that is being drank my military families. It has been reported in the Seattle Times. The Army hasn't fixed the problem. They are waiting. Waiting for what???? Maybe the outcome of this story?? Maybe for more children to die..........

[feelfree1]

U.S. military bases make up many of THE most polluted places on the planet. The military does not address this problem because it is extremely expensive to clean up. It is far more cost effective to waste a load of soldiers and thier families, then to dump the toxic site on the general public to deal with, than it is to waste precious military tax dollars that could instead be used to 'liberate' folks.

[feelfree1]

I beg your pardon. The story that I am referring to primarily accuses the Iranians of arming Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, not Iraq.

I guess that I am having trouble keeping the unsupportable Bush regime deceptions about Iran straight.

My apologies.

[jonesforch]

Can't blame Bush he ws not president.

[feelfree1]

jonesforch,

Re: "Can't blame Bush he ws not president."

Good point. He never was. Just an illegitimate, unelected poser, and a mass-murderous war criminal puppet. He is one calamitous Resident.

No doubt about it.

[jonesforch]

But I would bet every president to this day in cluding Bush knew about it.....just put on bask burner.

[feelfree1]

jonesforch,

Resident Bush could not care less how many U.S. soldiers and average citizens die along the way, in his dubious quest for power and profit.

This manifestation has already been clearly demonstrated time and again by the Bush League.

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[donnie900]

This country's infrastructure has had it. Its not just the water system. Its the levy system. The highway system. The plumbing. The air. Everything about this place is abandoned and just thought.. "there". Well its not going to be there for very much longer. Its going to start breaking down. And good for us. For worrying about some place 10,000 freak'n miles away. Our own backyards full'a a thousand corpses.. and "we know what freedom is". Unbelievable.

[gunnerv1]

And why is this Bush's fault, this happened from 1957 to 1987.

[drummer94]

Another punch in the face for the troops. It was tough listening to the marine tell his tale. When he was describing how he held his daughter... well, I called mine and told her that I loved her.

[teclaw1007]

How alarming this story is, we have ways to treat polluted water (www.keywater.com) WHY is our government local/state/Federal to CHEAP to fix this, we are talking WATER something we all need to survive. There are companies that specialize in treating polluted water, go to www.keywater.com, they can treat polluted water using OZONE Technology without using more chemicals like Chlorine. This is SO ALARMING and could have been avoided if someone had a conscious!!

[octavianfdlr]

Why would anyone claim that this is not Bush's fault. Much of it happenned before he was born. Of course he did it!

But we can't blame the House Democrats. They are vigorously prosecuting actions which were legal at the time. At least they are not looking at what is legal but unacceptable now, and seeking to stop it! Good (old boy) Democrats!

[surfsite]

This is all part of the B.R.A.C.C. Baserealignment and Closing Commission. This abandonment and closing periodically of military bases goes with our UN non-voted by the -US THE PEOPLE- treaty with the United Nations-Public law 87-297-Freedom From War-The US Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a "Peaceful World"-(State Dept. publication #7277). Bases not meant to be kept open down the road so they never cared to bother to invest money on them-This is called Lack Of informed Consent-to the military families-I got Chlorine gas at Fort Polk Lousiana and my life has been a living nightmare-$$$$$$$$ to keep myself alive and no one answers to my concerns. Look-it-up

[badkelpie]

Im just finding out about this now, and I was born and lived my first years at Camp LeJeune.

I am researching why I was never contacted having a birth year of 1967. The contamination started in 1952. Apparently the government has only contacted those born 1968 and later. The reason is that birth records were computerized in North Carolina from 1968 on.

Get real! Is there no other way to get this information? My passport quite clearly states my place of birth as Camp LeJeune NC! Tell me that passport information is not computerized!?!?!

The US government is a total sham and only serves the elite and rich. As far as those who put their neck on the line fighting their wars.....apparently they are expendable.

Forget Bush, forget names....they are all in it together.

[rharris0244]

This is all well and good...trying to figure out who to blame BUT the real question I have is what do we do with this information? My father was stationed there for a while and has medical issues that are a little on the abnormal side...Who do we go to for help???