Attn: All Marine who were at Camp Lejeune

[Hugh R]

If you haven't read this about contaminated drinking water you should if you were stationed there before 1987. I was stationed there in 1971/73 time period.

Obama apparently signed a law today to establish a fund for testing those who may have many forms of cancer and other health problems from drinking and showering in contaminated water there.

Here is the link, to Wiki. At the end of the article there is an "external link" to the USMC disease registry. Firefox flagged it as suspicious, but its legitimate.

Camp Lejeune water contamination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[wdfifteen]

Thanks. I'm sorry for all the families that have suffered.
I was there in '61 - '62 and lived at Tarawa Terrace. Obviously I was just a kid. Glad our pres is looking out for us, but I doubt that I'll get involved. I'm 62 and I ain't going to live forever nohow.

[azasadny]

Wow!!

[Hugh R]

To both parties credit, it was bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, who pressured the Executive Branch to move it forward.

BTW, I don't believe that I have any health issues related to this. I may have showered in the contaminated water, but at that age, I mostly drank beer.

[Zeke]

My ex wife grew up there. She was kind of poisonous.

The family left in '58.

[rcecale]

Kinda the same deal at MCAS El Toro...

MCAS El Toro: Superfund Site Water Contamination

MCAS El Toro’s TCE and Radium 226 Contamination

Many military Superfund sites are contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE). Like many other bases, MCAS El Toro used TCE to degrease aircraft parts. In Hangar 296 at El Toro, 55 gallon drums of TCE were dumped into a heated vat. Aircraft parts were then lowered in a basket into the vat. Presto—super clean parts. A major problem was that following acceptable industrial practices at the time, TCE waste was dumped into storm drains. Inevitably some of the waste wound up in the soil and groundwater. A TCE toxic plume was discovered spreading off of El Toro in 1985, the base placed on the BRAC, closed in 1999 and much of the land sold at a public auction in 2005 to a joint venture headed up Lennar Corporation of Miami, Fl.

At El Toro, veterans and dependents have reported cancer and other illnesses linked to TCE/PCE and radionuclides. Radium 226 (Ra 226) was used to paint aircraft instruments, mixed with other chemicals to produce a fluorescent paint. Some of the florescent paint wound up in landfills and eventually the groundwater. The Navy found that the north mezzanine of Hangar 296 contaminated with Ra 226 in July 2002. The California Department of Public Health has not yet approved this hangar for unrestricted use. Exposure to Ra 226 can be deadly. The half-life is over 1,600 years. After 1,600 years, for example, 2 grams of Ra 226 will still be radioactive from a quantity of 4 grams. No Marine veterans who worked in this hangar have been notified of their possible exposure to this deadly contaminant.


Exposure to these contaminants can occur through ingestion (drinking contaminated water), dermal contact, and inhalation. There’s no evidence to suggest that the municipal water at El Toro was ever contaminated. The water from the base wells is another story.


El Toro base wells are now abandoned and sealed. Millions were spent by the Navy for municipal water. There’s no explanation from the Navy for the purchase of municipal water. The Navy was unable to locate the contract files so the reasons for the purchases are unknown. The government’s municipal water contract files from 1951 and 1969 may have been destroyed. Navy regulations only required that the contract files be retained for 6 years and 3 months after final payment. One possibility is that total dissolved solids ("salts") >1,000 mg/L in the shallow aquifer may have caused service disruptions, forcing the purchase of municipal water and the eventual abandonment of the wells.


The Navy and EPA estimated 8,000 pounds of mostly TCE in the soil and groundwater under the highly industrialized portion of the base. The City of Irvine's consultant estimated 700,000 pounds of TCE in the same area. The Navy disputes the Irvine estimate. There is no dispute that the TCE plume went through the area of the base wells.


Despite the Navy’s lack of concern, the risk of exposure to TCE/PCE in the drinking water is evident from the corrosion in the well casings found before their destruction, placement of well screens in the contaminated aquifer, and the levels of TCE/PCE found in the shallow aquifer. (See: 'A Few Good Men, Lots of Chemicals' - Salem-News.Com)

I was there from 1980 - 1987 and from 1991 - 1994...

Randy

[Danimal16]

This kind of **** makes me shake my head. For what it is worth, it was the NAVY that oversees those contracts as well as the BRAC and other facilities and public health related matters. This is a huge problem with the rotation every two years of commanding officers and other executive managers of these installations and commands. They should be ashamed.

[stogie25]

Wow!!! I think my timing was good. I was there in 1991 for a while.