US military officials knew about contaminated water at Marine base

Thousands of families from 1957 to 1987 drank water contaminated with toxins as much as 40 times above current safety standards. The military knew as soon as late 1980 or early 1981 that one of the base’s water treatments plants was polluted.

The contaminants, industrial solvents known as TCE (trichloroethylene) and PCE (tetrachloroethelene, also called perchloroethylene), are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as probable carcinogens. Defense Department officials recently revealed that between 1975 and 1985 alone, nearly 200,000 Marines were stationed at Camp Lejeune.

“We wouldn’t be investigating this disgraceful situation if [the Department of Defense] had put half as much effort into cleaning up the water as it has into stonewalling those who drank it,” said Democratic Representative John Dingell of Michigan, the Energy and Commerce Committee’s chairman. The subcommittee that held Tuesday’s oversight hearing took testimony from families about cancers and other serious illnesses they attribute to ingesting the tainted water at the training and deployment base. At least 850 former residents of the installation have filed administrative claims, totaling nearly $4 billion.