Camp LeJeune Contaminated Drinking Water Study
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Attention All U.S.Marines
We, like many of you, were stationed at Camp LeJeune for part of the time that my husband was in the Corps. That was back in the late 1970's and early 1980s and we lived in base housing, along with thousands of other Marine families, utilizing the various systems that were provided for us.
Last week while at an appointment at the Veteran's Hospital we were given a paper by another Marine, and this is my way of passing on the information.
We all may have been exposed to contaminated drinking water.
The Notice
If you were at LeJeune, North Carolina between 1957 and 1987 you may have been exposed to contaminates in your drinking water. The Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry, which is a federal public health agency is currently looking into this situation to see whether or not any potential health risks are associated with the contaminated water.
The study is scheduled to run through the middle of 2008. The Marine Corps has officially stated that they will then notify former residents with the results of the study.
If you were there during those years, then you are asked to register at the United States Marine Corps site .
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Asbestos and.....
Apparently in the early 80's the Marine Corps had reason to think that there was asbestos coating from the raw pipes leaching into the water supply. As the water continued to be tested at Camp Grainger it became obvious that there were also various VOC compounds in the water that was supplying base housing on Tarrawa Terrace, one and two, as well as Camp LeJeune.
In 1984 the wells identified as supplying the contaminated water were shut down, and included the water supply for TT1 and TT2 as well as Hadnot Point.
But that doesn't seem to be all. Apparently Camp LeJeune's water supply was polluted from 1957 until 1987 by TCE, which is a chemical degreasing solvent, and PCE, a toxic chemical dry cleaning agent. These chemicals came from a dry cleaning store near the base, according to government sources.
We, who lived at Camp LeJeune, were exposed to between 70 and 200 micrograms of PCE per liter of water. Maximum allowable levels set by the EPA is 5 micrograms per liter. Yep. FIVE.
Part of the problem is that the groundwater in that area is a mere ten feet below the surface so pollutants leach in to it very rapidly. I am continuing to research and will update this article with links and information as I find out more. And there is more. Vast amounts of information if you know where to look.
Current information is that the toxins are "unlikely" to affect adults, however there was some question on the effects on unborn children that would have been exposed to the toxins in the mother's system.
To date more than 800 Marines have filed claims. The investigating committee has considered filing claims against certain people because there seems to have been an attempt to cover up this information.
Now that is a surprise, isn't it?
News Video
Some of the Illnesses
The various compounds found in the water are linked to the following illnesses. There are more but these are the most common
- liver cancer
- kidney cancer
- breast cancer
- bladder cancer
- ovarian cancer
- prostate cancer
- cervical cancer
- lung cancer
- leukemia
- non Hodgkins lymphoma
- liver disease
- miscarriages
- birth defects :cleft palate, heart defects, Choanal atresia, neural tube defects, low birth weight, and small size for gestational age
What Can You Do?
If you are part of those Marines, and families of Marines that were exposed to these toxins then register at the site.
Talk to your family doctor, and give him the web address so he can educate himself to your potential needs, and tests that need to be done. If you are having health problems be sure to mention this study and ask if there are any potential links.
If you feel you are having related health problems go to The Stand (loink below) and follow the directions to fill out your form 95. It needs to be filed as soon as possible
Take control of your own health, as always.
More Information
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Comments
Very true, Chab, it won't but the compensation does help with the medical bills. :)
I have a family member that was at LeJeune during the early 80s. I will pass the info along. Thanks.
I am so sorry for your findings. Are they certain this is no longer a problem up there?
Hi Deb, thanks for stopping by
Desc- give the information to anyone you know that might be affected
Sapristi- who knows? :/
If you are looking for more information regarding the Camp Lejeune water contamination, please visit the website of The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten at www.tftptf.com.
I saw your blog about Camp Lejeune. I was born at Camp Lejeune in 1968 and was diagnosed with male breast cancer last year, Here is a link to a story they did on me last week.
http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/18153289.html
http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/18185494.html
Have you seen www.tftptf.com? There is a lot of good information there too. How are you and your husband doing? Your photograpgh struck me, you remind me of my mother and thought from the name, you maybe French. My mother is Marie Lisette Partain. She is from Quebec. The video has a few stills of her. I live in Florida and have found 14 other families here in Tallahassee who are also sick.
Mike
Hi Mike..My husband 's familiy is also French Canadian, however I am from an amazingly mixed up heritage. :)
Good luck to you.
Thank you for the story. Please check out www.watersurvivors.com We have been involved with this situation for almost 9 years. We have made many trips to DC and are trying to get help for the survivors of this toxic nightmare.We could use your help!
Je Me souviens!
ah...I can taste the maple syrup now... ;)
Good grief Marye, was your family affected?
It is sickening that if they knew it was happening that they let it go on. And it is worse that it was allowed to happen to the defenders of our nation and their families. Shows how much regard the powers that be have for anyone else.
Donna
Donna-
My husband is in a wheelchair, and suffers from chronic pain. He is on numerous narcotic pain relievers however the VA does not acknowlege that there may be a connection. The know there is nerve damage but don;t know why or how. We are fighting for his disability..they have currently got him rated at 20%, or a little over $200. a month. It has been a 2 year fight to get that. We continue to fight but it is draining us financially, emotionally and physically. :/
Anyone know where i can find a list of service men and women that were enlisted during these times as My brother spent 4 yrs in and had a son born with major developmental problems including his head growing faster than his body. He had so called matured his abilities to that of a 18 month old child .. he can walk but not normally which is a blessing and a miracle But this child was conceived right after my brother served for OUR country !!!My brother always thought it could be his fault But I think there is much more involved
Helen, I don;t know hwere you would get a list, but surely your brother knows when he was stationed there?
I HAVE A TWELVE YEAR OLD.WITH A CONDITION CALLED SINUS INVERTIS.
IT IS A REVERSED IMAGE OF ALL THE ORGANS. I WAS STATIONED 80 TO 82
ON L STREET.
Camp Lejeune was my duty station, I worked and lived there. I got married to another Marine and lived just outside of the base, but because the towns water supply had a bad taste my northern taste buds could not get used to we would bring empty one gallon milk containers and fill them daily. This was what I mixed my daughters formula with, she has had numerous miscarrages along with heart, kidney and recently liver disfunctions that her doctors are trying to pinpoint. They at one time told us that it was Lupus for both of us (I suffer from asthma, hypo-thyroidism, and have had breast cancer), both of our primary physicians are at a loss for explainations after all of the testing we have gone through. She is in worst shape then I am medically and is on total bedrest at this writting for the sake of a health delivery of her and my son-in-laws second child. I am not surprise with the militaries mis-handling of this situation as much as being furious at the long 30 year wait period to notify anyone. (I received first notice Sept. 10, 2008) Many of the wives would get the drinking water from the base because we knew of the purification plant on base and thought the water was better!!!
Hi Marye,
Happy New year et Bon fete! I hope all is well. I just wanted to point out to your readers that we are making some progress. Three weeks ago we got ATSDR to agree to revise part of the 1997 Publi Health Assessment from Lejeune. They are going to retract the language that states adults were not affected by the water and change it to unknown. As you know, the UMSC and the VA have been using the PHA to deny service connection to exposures such as your husband. ATSDR will also commence the study of service members stationed at the base between 1975-1985 this year. It is important that everyone register and be counted. This survery will hopefully open the door for the verterans to at least get some help from the VA.
Hope all is well.
Mike Partain
www.TFTPTF.com
i was stationed at camp lejeune in 1987 the water tasted bad but we were required to drink at least two canteens a day but we drank much more
i was stationed at le jeune twodifferent times the first in1978 the second from january 1981 thru seperation in may 1982 at which time these studys were supposed to be in full swing. i recieved my notification inaugust 2008, my question and i ask it the second time i got them on the phone is why it took so long to notify of this situation and was told that it was part of the ongoing water study. mywife and i have not been able to have children she always suggested that i may be sterile. being a marine for seven years this was not possible. but now that this new information has come to lite ibelieve that it is vary possible.
Hello to everyone reading this. I was stationed at Camp Lejune, N.C in 1985-86. Almost immediately after being transferred to 3RD MAW in El Toro, CA I became EXTREMELY ILL and had to have surgery for what was thought to be appendicitis. However, it turns out that I was diagnosed with Crohns Disease. I was immediately discharged with a 30% disability and told that I had only 10 yrs to live. During that time I did all that i wanted to accopmplish such as becoming a police officer and pro MMA fighter. But from 1986 until the present, and continuing, I also developed a whole laundry list of illness's that had no known cause or source that my physician(s) could figure out. These included, but are not limited to, various forms of arthritis from osteoarthritis, to degenerative arthritis, osteoporosis, to inflammatory arthritis, Lupus (SLE), PLEURISY (which attacks the lungs and is very painful) and other forms of joint disease. I have had to have almost my entire spinal column fused together from my cervical to my lumbar regions. I have had over 30 major operations and am on enough narcotic pain killers to kill an entire herd of elephants many times over and even that does not touch my pain through out my body when it really gets going. I have many and multiple migrain headaches often several times a week and hypertension from the various medications that are given me to try and help fight the various illness's I am diagnosed with and that are known to casue high blood pressure, beside just the pain. Despite over 24 yrs of documentation by both my civilian doctors as well as the V.A'S own doctors that have treated me, the V.A has repeatedly denied my claims for increased disability compensation, claiming that they "can find no medical documentation that shows any connection between any of my illness's or the medications that are prescribed to me, and my service connected condition". I am currently on S.S.D and though social security says that i am totally and completely disabled as a result of the medical documentation and that they find that all the conditions are related, the V.A refuses to even consider that ruling. This in spite of the fact that a recent form sent to me by the V.A states that they, supposedly, have to take a social security finding of total disability into consideration!!!! I have been fighting the V.A now for over 20 + yrs. I have the D.A.V currently attempting to assist me but the V.A is now stating that all of the information provided to them over the last 20+ yrs that I have been attempting to get my disability increased, will not be considered as it is not "new" evidence and that they are not required to consider "old" evidence that they have already previously had to look at and consider, even if they were wrong in denying the previous requests for disability based on the evidence submitted and of which showed that there is a connection between all my illness's and my service connected condition and or the medications used to fight them. My doctor, both civilian and V.A were shocked and floored by this from the V.A. I have had several elected officials weigh in on my behalf on this subject but the V.A has refused to budge. Making it even more interesting is the fact that i recieved a letter from the V.A admitting to 1) losing my claim for more then a yr and 2) shredding several of the documents and other forms of evidence that proved my claims are all related!!! When asked what they intend to do about this we have been met with either silence or else have been told by various V.A rep's that they are "under orders to admit nothing about ,nor speak to me or my representatives about, anything having to do with the document shredding". Now, I only recently recieved the information that showed that I was contaminated from the poisioned drinking water at Camp Lejune and have re-submitted my evidence to the V.A along with the letters from the DoD and Marine Corps showing that I was there during that time period and listing the known and suspected health problems that I as well as both my ex-wives and children have come down with and of which the doctors had previously been puzzled as to what the source for these health problems could be. It will be interesting to see what the V.A has to say about this to. I am wondering how many other Marines or their families, have come down with the health problems that I or my family have. We have experienced Leukemia (AML) when there is no known family history of this, 2miscarriages, two of my children were born with deformed feet/toes and have unknown rashes that multiple doctors have not been able to diagnose, as have I, breathing/lung problems i myself and my children (I do not smoke nor have I ever and my children are way too young). I went from being a body building 5' 10" 245 muscled pound man to only a shell of a man now. I am 43 yrs old but am told that I have the brittle bones of an unhealthy man over 70 yrs of age. All of my physicians are in agreement that my health conditions are only going to get worse, not better and that all that can be done for me is to try and ease my pain and discomfort and occassionally do surgery when the conditions get bad enough, but that is only a "stop gap" measure. There are no known cures for my illness's. And despite this, the V.A claims that i am a "perfectly healthy male, who appears to have a desire for multiple narcotics". and that while they admit that my health records do reflect that i have the various medical problems claimed that "in their opinion, both I and my treating sources are exaggerating the extent of my health condition(s)". Since when is the V.A able to make medical decisions based on a person they have never laid eyes on, and when there is more then 30 different treating health professionals who completely and totally disagree with the V.A's findings? These men and women medical personell are the ones who have examined me, treated me and operated on me for more then 20 yrs!!!! and the V.A can simply ignore them? this seems incredible if not down right illlegal. I am currently on Fentanyl, Hydromorphone and Opana just to try and keep the paina and bay and to try to allow me to have as much as a "normal" functional life as possible. I am also on various steroids to combat the Lupus and Crohns as well as the arthritic conditons, but these medications have side effects and health problems of their own that i now must also contend with. I have had to use Prednisone (supplied to me by the v.a) for over 20 yrs now. This medication is extremely well known to cause hypertension with long term use. My doctors ( all of them ) have stated in no uncertain terms that this has caused my high blood pressure and the V.A even pays for the 3 types of blood pressure medications I have to take (as well as the potassium that i have to also take because one of the blood pressure meds depletes this from the body) and yet they claim that "there is no medically known connection between taking prednisone and either my arthrits nor my high blood "pressure". When I pointed out that right in their own medical records it states "this patient is being prescribed the following blood pressure medications for high blood pressure which, in my medical opinion, is caused by his long term and high dose use of prednisone required for his service connected condition, Crohns disease." The V.A simply says that they have made a decision and that without "new" and "different" evidence that this matter is closed and cannot be considered for a disability ratings increase, even if it can be shown that they errored in their decision making"!!! is this not incredible???? I would welcome any comments out there or stories of same or similar experiences. You may even write me at: TERMN8OR3000@YAHOO.COM. Thank you for all the information you are all providing out there and "Semper Fi"
I must make a correction to the comment I just posted, I meant to state that I was stationed at CAMP LeJune, NC from 1984-1985. NOT 1985-1986. Thanks.
Strange when it comes to being against war some top government officials call us unpatriotic and say were not supporting the troops yet when it comes to supporting them when they really need help they say sorry we can't help you!Now that's real patriotic.
I lived at Camp Lejuene in 1984, and was stationed at Courthouse Bay. The water there wasn't the best, but the water we consumed out of the mobile water containers ( Water Buffalos ) was terrible. This water was transportedto us while engaged in field work. I vividly remember the bitter, and vile taste of this water. The source of the well in which this water was obtained is unknown. We were laboring in harsh conditions of high temperatures and humidity. Two options were available. Drink the water and hydrate your body, or suffer heat exhaustion or stroke. Most of us consumed the water. I have probable cause to believe that the water we consumed was contaminated.
chabrenas says:
15 months ago
To all victims and potential victims of this and similar situations around the world - May The Force Be With You.
Compensation won't cure the hurt, but let us hope the publicity will convince administrators that dithering and hoping the problem will go away is NEVER the right action.