Sunday, February 26, 2012
Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Registration Link
The Marine Corps encourages all those who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune before 1987 to register to receive notifications regarding Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water.
LINK: To Register if you served at Camp Lejeune before 1987
Background
This section provides background information on how contaminants were first discovered in water systems at Camp Lejeune, the sampling that has followed and the closing of effected wells. Other scientific information on the water testing and chemicals that were found, in addition to, Marine Corps actions and decisions are detailed in this section.
In 1979, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published interim standards for total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) (disinfection byproducts from water chlorination). Based on this ruling, Camp Lejeune began to monitor for TTHMs in November 1982 and was in full compliance with applicable requirements by November 1983. To prepare for the compliance requirements, the Atlantic Division - Naval Facilities Engineering Command (LANTDIV) contracted water quality testing with the U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency and Jennings Laboratories. The sampling initiative began at Camp Lejeune in July 1980.
From 1980-81, TTHM sampling was performed at Camp Lejeune's Hadnot Point and New River water treatment plants. Various other points in the water distribution systems were also sampled. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified as interference (i.e., an influence by chemicals other than TTHMs) in the TTHM sampling from Hadnot Point. In February 1982, LANTDIV recommended Camp Lejeune to initiate contractual agreements to begin TTHM monitoring through a North Carolina-certified laboratory. Camp Lejeune initiated this TTHM sampling in spring, 1982 with Grainger Laboratories. The first sets of TTHM samples, obtained in April 1982, were collected at various points which included the water treatment plant effluent, pumping stations, and various sinks. No individual wells were sampled.
In May 1982, the Grainger Labs TTHM analyses revealed VOC interference. Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) were identified in samples from Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point. In August 1982, Camp Lejeune received the samples’ analytical results, which quantified TCE and PCE concentrations from Grainger Labs. Further Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point TTHM testing resulted in sporadic interference by VOCs. Due to sampling completed in summer 1982, levels of PCE averaged approximately 90 ug/L in the Tarawa Terrace system and levels of TCE averaged 20 ug/L in the Hadnot Point system. (Camp Lejeune did obtain one sample indicating TCE at 1400 ug/L on May 27, 1982. This sample is not included in the average because the Base chemist who reviewed the analysis saw it as an anomaly.) Although no regulatory standards were established for either of these chemicals at the time, EPA published a SNARL (Suggested No-Adverse Response Level) for both TCE and PCE. Comparison of the average PCE and TCE concentrations with the respective SNARLs revealed Hadnot Point’s water below the long-term TCE SNARL and Tarawa Terrace’s water was between the 10-day and long-term PCE SNARL.
In August 1982, Camp Lejeune had reason to suspect that the appearance of PCE concentrations in the water samples could have resulted from the use of coated asbestos-cement pipe in the Tarawa Terrace raw water lines. Further discussion regarding the potential source of these compounds led to: continued sampling and analysis of the drinking water systems, additional sampling and analysis of the water supply, and the acceleration of the Naval Assessment and Control of Installation Pollutants (NACIP) Program at Camp Lejeune (established to identify areas of the Base which required cleanup).
Camp Lejeune continued to use Grainger Labs for TTHM sampling through 1982 and analyzed over 200 samples to ensure TTHM compliance. The analytical results from this sampling showed VOC interference in certain samples. During this time, Camp Lejeune evaluated the water treatment plants for potential sources of VOCs (e.g., paint, solvents used in equipment, and sources from other operations), performed inorganic chemical and corrosively analyses, and continued planning for various infrastructure replacements at the Tarawa Terrace and Holcomb Boulevard water treatment plants. Camp Lejeune remained in contact with North Carolina’s Water Supply Branch (Division of Health Services, Department of Human Resources), which had primacy over the Safe Drinking Water Act [SDWA] in NC, and also monitored other SDWA water quality requirements (e.g., metals, pH, etc.). Camp Lejeune’s water systems were in full compliance with SDWA requirements at this time.
In January 1982, the NACIP Program at Camp Lejeune began to identify potentially contaminated sites on the base. In 1983, the NACIP initial assessment study was published. This study led to the subsequent sampling of individual water supply wells in 1984. A direct association between VOCs in the Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace drinking water and VOCs in the wells and groundwater was established when the water supply wells were sampled (beginning in 1984). The Base confirmed the wells impacted by VOCs and shut them down in late 1984 and early 1985.
The Survey
This section illustrates the methods and procedures of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) as a result of the discovery of chemicals in Camp Lejeune base water systems. Information on the previous health assessment, study, and survey leading up to the current ATSDR study are also found in this section.
In 1997, a public health assessment (PHA) was completed by ATSDR at Camp Lejeune. The ATSDR was particularly interested in routine drinking water tests (conducted in the 1980s) that found volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at detectable levels in some on-base drinking water supply wells.
On April 28, 2009, ATSDR announced that they were removing the 1997 PHA for Camp Lejeune from their Web site. According to ATSDR, the PHA should have mentioned benzene contamination and stated that the extent of exposure to benzene was unknown. The ATSDR is currently conducting water modeling as part of an ongoing study to determine if past exposure to VOCs from contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune is associated with certain birth defects and childhood cancers. After the water modeling is completed, the ATSDR will re-analyze and update the PHA. Persons interested in reading the 1997 PHA may request a printed copy by contacting the ATSDR Records Center at (770) 488-0707, or e-mail: atsdrrecordscenter@cdc.gov.
(Note: The ATSDR conducted extensive literature reviews and developed Toxicological Profiles for these chemicals and many others. The Toxicological Profiles can be found on the ATSDR Web site. Other names for perchloroethylene include: tetrachloroethylene, PCE, perc, tetrachloroethene, perclene, and perchlor. The ATSDR Toxicological Profile for PCE can be found under "tetrachloroethylene.")
In 1998, the ATSDR completed a birth outcome study of women who conceived or gave birth to children aboard Camp Lejeune. The ATSDR concluded that drinking water contaminated with VOCs may be associated with decreased average birth weight-for-gestational-age births in infants born to mothers over the age of 35 or in women who had a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes. The ATSDR qualified the associations and warned that results must be interpreted with caution. It also concluded that any possible relationship between VOCs and adverse pregnancy outcome(s) needed additional study.
As a follow up action to the study of birth outcomes, the ATSDR began a survey in fall 1999. The survey’s overall goal was to identify cases of specific childhood diseases among children born to women who became pregnant while living in base housing at Camp Lejeune from 1968 to 1985. During the survey, the ATSDR administered a screening questionnaire to 12,598 former residents of Camp Lejeune to identify specific types of childhood illnesses. The telephone-screening phase of the project ended January 26, 2002. The ATSDR evaluated the self-reported cases of certain childhood illnesses and other health-related information.
In January 2003, the ATSDR released an interim report on the survey results and mailed this report to survey participants and interested parties. The survey interviews provided specific childhood cancers and birth defects. To verify the self-reported health conditions, the ATSDR reviewed medical records of selected respondents and/or interviewed physicians that provided diagnoses of health conditions. Once cases were verified, the rates for childhood cancer and birth defects of interest were compared to the rates for a comparable population. These comparison findings are published in the ATSDR’s final survey report.
Updated information about the survey and any follow-up study will be provided as it becomes available.
The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten - Camp Lejeune Toxic Water
 Semper Fi Movie Poster   Welcome to The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten. The purpose of this site is to help provide information about the toxic water contamination aboard U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Please feel free to register, look around our site and ask questions. We invite you to visit our Discussion page. We have also recently completed a referenced time line of events for the first half of the toxic water contamination aboard Camp Lejeune. Please review this important document and compare it to prior “official” Marine Corps versions found on the page. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is currently studying the effects of toxic exposure upon former residents of Camp Lejeune. Two separate water distribution systems aboard Camp Lejeune were found to be contaminated, the Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point water distribution systems. ATSDR has completed the water modeling for the Tarawa Terrace water distribution system and has determined the system was contaminated from June 1957 until 1 March 1987. The ATSDR water modeling for the Hadnot Point water distribution system is underway but has not been completed. Therefore, the beginning date of the contamination has not been determined for any of those areas that were historically served by the Hadnot Point water distribution system...  Historically, Midway Park, Berkeley Manor, and Paradise Point housing areas received their finished tap water from the Hadnot Point water system prior to 1972. After that date, these areas received their water from the Holcomb Boulevard water distribution system. Hospital Point and Hadnot Point (Main side) to include French creek received their finished water from the Hadnot Point water distribution system up until the contaminated wells were taken offline, contaminated water for these areas ceased in February of 1985. However, beginning 27 January 1985 through 4 February 1985, the Holcomb Boulevard water treatment plant was taken off line due to a generator fuel spill in the water system. Water was rerouted from the Hadnot Point water distribution system in order to supply water to Midway Park, Berkeley Manor, Paradise Point, and Watkins Village. The water furnished to these areas during the 9 day period was highly contaminated with VOCs.  The water provided by the Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point distribution systems was highly contaminated with various chemicals, including the VOCs (volatile organic compounds) known as PCE (Tetrachloroethylene aka Perchloroethylene), TCE (Trichloroethylene), DCE (Dichloroethylene), Vinyl Chloride and BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene).These chemicals are either known or suspected human carcinogens. Many Marines, Sailors, their families and loyal civilian employees have been affected by the contamination in various ways including, but not limited to: 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 for gestational age),etc. Unfortunately, many of these families still have not been notified by the USMC of the danger from their exposure. In 1987 Camp Lejeune was recommended for listing as a Superfund site on the National Priorities List (NPL) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Camp Lejeune was officially listed as a Superfund site in 1989."One person can make a difference, and every person should try." - John F. Kennedy  September 2010 Congressional Hearing Seated (L-R) at the witness table: Mike Partain, Peter Devereaux, Jim Watters and Dr. Mike Hargett. USMC Maj Gen Eugene G Payne Jr is seated immediately behind the witness panel. |
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