Were you stationed at the US Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina from 1957 to 1987?
If so you were likely exposed to contaminated water. Water wells at the base were closed in 1984 and
1985, but not before an estimated half a million Marines and members of their families drank water that
was contaminated with 40 times the current EPA limit of trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene--both
cancer causing agents. These chemicals were dumped into ground water by an off-base dry cleaning
business, as well as chemicals leaking from underground storage tanks and unsafe disposal practices at the
base.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is currently conducting a study of the water
contamination at Camp Lejeune. A representative of the agency notes that women who were in their
first trimester of pregnancy when exposed seem to have been affected more than others. Miscarriages
occurred in many cases. So did skin cancer, boils, rashes, and cysts.
In 2008 President George W. Bush signed a law requiring the Marine Corps to notify those who may have
been exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. To learn more about the contaminated water at
Camp Lejeune and how you can be added to the registry of contamination victims, visit the website of
cancer victim John Hartung at www.lifeaftercamplejeune.com.
