Research: Evaluation of mortality among marines and navy personnel exposed to contaminated drinking water at USMC base Camp Lejeune: a retrospective cohort study

Background

Two drinking water systems at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina were contaminated with solvents during 1950s-1985.

Conclusion

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Continue Learning:  http://www.ehjournal.net/content/13/1/10/abstract

Camp Lejeune Study Finds Higher Cancer Death Risk

"The study found elevated (risks) at Camp Lejeune for several causes of death including cancers of the kidney, liver, esophagus, cervix, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin lymphoma and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease)"” Frank Bove of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues wrote in their report, published in the online journal Environmental Health.

Not very many people who drank the contaminated water have died yet, and so more study will be needed to really nail down the risks, said Bove, a senior epidemiologist at CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

But the findings add to evidence that cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene and trichloroethylene (TCE) caused severe illnesses. TCE is used as a degreaser and a dry-cleaning solvent.

Continue Learning:  http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/camp-lejeune-study-finds-higher-cancer-death-risk-n33991

Update: Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water Report

 

Update: Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water Report

On December 4, 2013 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR) "Evaluation of exposure to contaminated drinking water and specific birth defects and childhood cancers at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina: a case--control study" was published (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/update.html). You will receive a hard copy of the ATSDR fact sheet summarizing the results of this study in the mail in the coming weeks.

 

ATSDR's study evaluated whether or not maternal exposures to drinking water containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at Camp Lejeune increased the risk of certain health conditions. The study used ATSDR's previous water modeling efforts to estimate past exposures (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/watermodeling.html). VOCs were commonly used as solvents for cleaning machinery and weapons, for dry cleaning, and some are found in fuels.

 

This study is the first of several health initiatives that ATSDR is expected to complete in the next several years. For more information about these studies, visit http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/ or call:  (800) 232-4636 .

 

Since 1991, the Marine Corps has supported the health initiatives conducted by various scientific agencies. We are also working diligently to identify and notify individuals who, in the past, may have been exposed to the chemicals in drinking water. For more information about these efforts or to update your contact information, please see: http://www.marines.mil/clwater/, call:  (877) 261-9782  or e-mail clwater@usmc.mil.

 

For the complete report and for information about studies being conducted by ATSDR, visit http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/ or call:  (800) 232-4636 .

 

To contact Veterans Affairs to learn more about health care benefits, please visit http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/camp-lejeune/ or call  Error! Filename not specified.(877) 222-8387  (Healthcare) or  call:  (800) 827-1000 

The Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water Program


CONTINUE LEARNING AT THE AGENT ORANGE ZONE BLOG

CDC: Water at Marine base linked to birth defects

A long-awaited study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a link between tainted tap water at a U.S. Marine Corps base in North Carolina and increased risk of serious birth defects and childhood cancers.

But the study did conclude that babies born to mothers who drank Lejeune tap water while pregnant were four times more likely than women who lived off-base to have such serious birth defects as spina bifida. Babies whose mothers were exposed also had a slightly elevated risk of such childhood cancers as leukemia, according to the results.


Continue Learning:  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/12/06/cdc-water-at-marine-base-linked-to-birth-defects/

Betrayal

Legislation to provide VA health care for 15 medical conditions for Camp Lejeune veterans and their dependents was passed in the 112^th Congress.  No VA presumptive disability compensation was included in the Janey Ensminger Act.

Camp Lejeune veterans, even those with terminal cancers, must get into line with other veterans and support their VA disability compensation claims with medical nexus opinions that state their medical conditions are "at least as likely as not" caused by exposure to the base’s contaminated water wells (1953-1987).

Continue Learning:   http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/09/24/betrayal/

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Flap continues over Lejeune health assessment

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and congressmen is urging the Centers for Disease Control to complete a new, comprehensive report on the health effects of toxic tap water at the Camp Lejeune Marine base.

The lawmakers also want the agency to investigate whether people were exposed to airborne toxins inside buildings after contaminated wells at the North Carolina base were closed in 1985. And they asked the agency to look into the feasibility of a "cancer incidence study" for Lejeune.

As many as 1 million Marines, dependents and civilian workers are believed to have been exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), benzene and other toxic chemicals that leeched into ground water from a poorly maintained fuel depot, dumping and an off-base dry cleaner. Last year, President Barack Obama signed a law providing medical care and screening for those exposed between 1957 and 1987. But Ensminger and others fear that cutoff date is too early

Continue Learning:  http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2013/08/16/flap-continues-over-lejeune-health-assessment-n1666310

Health Benefits for Families at Camp Lejeune 1957-87

Veterans Health Administration sent this bulletin at 08/13/2013 10:41 AM EDT

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

VA will be able to reimburse Veterans’ family members for eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses for 15 health conditions after we publish regulations. 

Prepare in 3 steps:

1. Call 1-877-222-8387 to be added to VA’s Camp Lejeune database.
2. Gather documents showing your relationship to a Veteran who served at Camp Lejeune and that you lived on base for 30 days or more between 1957-87.
3. Keep receipts for health care expenses you paid for a covered condition on or after March 26, 2013.

Learn more. 
Visit www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures to learn about other military exposures and VA benefits.

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Cover-Up Hinted In Navy Letter

Government watchdogs and environmental advocates said they interpret the letter as further evidence of a Navy effort to evade culpability for what many call the worst and largest drinking water contamination in U.S. history. 

As part of its research, the disease registry must map the entire water system on the base, past and present. And for the findings to be credible, the registry must release all of the information, so other scientists can review or replicate the results. The Navy's pressure could stymie that effort.

Ensminger and other advocates said they are concerned that the letter represents another maneuver by the Navy to cover up its actions and inactions, and to delay justice for the estimated 1 million Marines and family members who were exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune over 30-odd years.

Legislation is currently pending in the House and Senate that seeks to provide healthcare to Camp Lejeune residents suffering as a result of exposure to the contaminated drinking water. The Senate bill passed the Committee on Veterans' Affairs over the summer and awaits further action. Legislators are on the hunt for offsets to cover its $340 million price. The House version of the bill, named after Janey Ensminger, has yet to move out of committee.

Ensminger called Camp Lejeunethe "tip of the iceberg." With over 130 contaminated military sites around the country, he said, "that makes the DOD the nation's largest polluter."

The Navy letter to the disease registry "is completely ignoring the new law on the books," said Angela Canterbury, director of public policy for the nonpartisan Project On Government Oversight. "The Navy, the department being investigated by the agency, is requesting that information be broadly withheld without specific authority under the law.

"This smacks of coercion," Canterbury added.

read more

 

Camp Lejeune - MCAS El Toro: A Few Good Men, Too Many Chemicals

We’re the Veterans of
contaminated land,
No mama, no poppa, no Uncle Sam.

No aunts, no uncles, no nephews, no nieces.
No rifles, no planes, or
artillery pieces.
And nobody gives a damn.

Few Good Men, Too Many Chemicals tells the story of the thousands of veterans, their families and civilian workers at former MCAS El Toro and Camp Lejeune, at one time two of the most hazardous military installations in the U.S. Those who lived and worked on these bases and were exposed to toxic chemicals and other environmental hazards continue to be ignored by the U.S. government, including the over 70 Marine Veterans of Camp Lejeune with male breast cancer, the highest incidence of occurrence of this rare cancer in any other demographic in the U.S.

Camp Lejeune has been labeled as ‘death camp’ for those who drank, showered, and cooked with the contaminated water on the base from 1957 to 1987.

At Camp Lejeune, the contamination of the base wells with organic solvents and benzene is a documented fact. The contamination covered a 30 year period from 1957 until 1987 and may have exposed as many as one million people to toxic chemicals.

The base wells at MCB Camp Lejeune were contaminated with toxic chemicals for 30 years, according to The Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight of The Committee on Science & Technology, U.S. House of Representatives.

With 130 military installations on the EPA Superfund database, the Defense Department faces a huge potential liability from dependents and civilian workers (the only ones who can file tort suits). This may be the raison d’etre for the Navy and Marine Corps’ refusal to accept responsibility for injuries from Camp Lejeune’s contaminated wells. To do so, may be the proverbial Pandora box, opening the door to many others who were exposed to environmental hazards on 130 military Superfund installations and were injured from these exposures.

For Camp Lejeune, MCAS El Toro and the many military bases on the EPA Superfund list, these are not just examples of one or two drums leaching into the groundwater. For our military, dependents, civilian workers and in many cases those living near these bases, the volume of toxic chemicals in the soil and groundwater posed a serious environmental health risk.

The Source

Camp Lejeune: SEMPER FI ALWAYS FAITHFUL TRAILER

WATCH THE TRAILER

Semper Fi: Always Faithful Trailer from Rachel Libert on Vimeo.

Camp Lejeune: Advocate for veterans in Camp Lejeune tainted water case dies at age 72

In 2009, Moser's picture appeared on the front page of the St. Petersburg Times to accompany a story on Camp Lejeune's drinking water.

Joe Moser gave his life for his country, his son says, 50 years after his discharge from the Marine Corps.

Moser was one of 71 men with ties to Camp Lejeune, N.C., diagnosed with rare breast cancer.

He blamed his cancer on Lejeune's polluted water.

The Source

Camp Lejeune: 300,000 water contamination questionnaires sent to former base residents

If you're a former Marine or civilian worker who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune between 1972 and 1985 and you get a health survey in the mail from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, please fill it out.

Between now and December, about 300,000 health surveys will be mailed out to former Marines, dependents and civilian workers asking various questions about contaminant exposures on the base.

From 1957 to 1987, some of the wells at Camp Lejeune were contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals, including benzene and dry cleaning solvents.

"There's no guarantee that when we finish these studies that set government benefits will accrue to you," he said. "If we see associations that are strong enough, historically, the government has looked at that and provided medical services to those affected, but there's no guarantee."

The Source

CAMP LEJEUNE: USMC pulls controversial water contamination booklet

Marine officials confirmed this week that a much-disputed pamphlet describing the history and effects of Camp Lejeune contaminated water had been pulled from the Marines’ official website.

"It’s still unfinished business, because even though it’s been taken down, the people who read it still don’t know they were misinformed," he said.

The publication heavily cited a 2009 report by the National Research Council that was inconclusive about the effects of chemicals in the Lejeune drinking water and recommended that further study would be unable to produce a more definite conclusion.

The results of that study were quickly called into doubt by former base residents and experts who said the research did not give proper weight to the presence of the known carcinogen benzene or analyze proper concentrations of the chemicals in the water.

Last month, ATSDR began a survey of 300,000 former Lejeune residents and control population to determine the population’s risk of developing a slew of serious diseases, including leukemia, renal cancer, and male breast cancer. It is estimates that up to one million people may have been exposed to tainted water aboard Lejeune between the 1950s and 1980s.

The Source

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination: Semper Fi: Always Faithful Trailer

Toxic Secrecy: The Marine Corps' Cover-up of Water Contamination at Camp Lejeune

Semper Fi: Always Faithful Trailer from Rachel Libert on Vimeo.

Camp Lejeune veterans take fight to big screen

Camp Lejeune veterans take fight to big screen

Bills filed in the House of Representatives and Senate would provide health care to any Camp Lejeune veteran or family member with illnesses related to the contamination. A vote on the Senate bill is expected in the Veterans Affairs Committee next week.

Yet it's estimated that as many as a million people were exposed to toxic chemicals in the base's water from 1957 to 1987. Thousands of records, many uncovered by Ensminger and Partain, show how the military was warned of the danger years before it shuttered poisoned wells.

Their goal was to force the Marines to notify every veteran who was on base during the time of the contamination. Later, they would seek out health care for the sick. And they would unearth documents with explosive information that the water was laced with a known carcinogen, benzene, from a million gallons of spilled fuel.

Exclusive Interview: Senator Burr talks Camp Lejeune toxics

Exclusive Interview: Senator Burr talks Camp Lejeune toxics

Senator Burr says he’ll do what it takes to get the bill through to help those sickened by the toxic water. “We’ve got several champions up here and we are going to be vigilant at making sure that there is a final determination as to blame.”

Burr says the most important thing you can do if you think you were affected is to register with the CDC. You can do that by entering the Keywords: Toxic Water on our homepage.