WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of the Navy has agreed to pay $1.53 million for a mortality study that could show a link between toxic water at Camp Lejeune and the deaths of Marines and their family members who lived there over a 30-year period.
By some estimates, as many as 1 million people were exposed to well water that contained toxic chemicals at the base. The chemicals were dumped into storm drains, leaked from fuel tanks or buried in pits across the base. They seeped through the groundwater and into wells that fed the base areas of Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace.
The main contaminated well was shut down in November 1984.
Documents revealed Sunday by McClatchy Newspapers indicate a fuel storage farm at a central part of the base might have had far greater significance in the contamination than previously known. Some 800,000 gallons of fuel were thought to have been spilled over the years from the fuel farm, close to the main well serving Hadnot Point - the location of the base's enlisted barracks, some officers' quarters and the hospital.
Benzene, a chemical found in the water, is a fuel component and a known carcinogen.
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, the top Republican on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement this week that the new information changes the science behind the contamination.
"These revelations are disturbing," Burr said. "It's very likely that this information will significantly change the direction and broaden the scope of the government's scientific inquiry into the water contamination at Camp Lejeune."
Following the revelations, U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, called for an investigation into the extent of the fuel contamination. Miller is chairman of the House Science Committee's oversight panel.
The oversight subcommittee plans next week to begin seeking specific documents related to the fuel contamination, he said.
"The most recent documents suggest that maybe they did know and they actively concealed it," Miller said. "We need to know who knew about the contamination and when."
Navy denials
Former Marine Jerry Ensminger of White Lake, whose daughter died in 1985 of leukemia, had little praise for the Navy's decision, saying it should have paid for the science long ago.
"I'm convinced they've known about the benzene in the water all along," Ensminger said. "They were hoping no one would catch it. Guess what - it was caught."
The Navy had refused for months to fund the mortality study, telling senators as recently as last month it wasn't necessary.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told Burr that research released last summer showed no definitive link, but that study has been criticized by senators.
Then Thursday, Brian Harrison, director of the Navy's Environmental Restoration Division, sent a brief, three-sentence letter to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is conducting the study.
"This is to inform you and your staff that the Department of the Navy intends to fund the ATSDR in the amount of $1,530,300 for the Mortality Study that will address the health concerns from past drinking water contamination at U. S. Marine Corps Base in Camp Lejeune North Carolina," Harrison wrote.
Burr had blocked consideration of two Navy appointees whose confirmations are pending in the U.S. Senate, saying he wouldn't let another one through until the study was funded.
On Friday, his spokesman said the holds will remain until the money actually goes through.
Marine spokesman Capt. Brian Block said in a prepared statement that the Marines Corps is aware of the Navy's agreement and is committed to funding science with a "reasonable chance of providing accurate information" about a connection between the toxic water and illnesses.
"Our goal has always been to use the best science to get accurate information in a timely manner," Block said.
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, praised the Navy's decision.
"It is the key to determining whether there were higher mortality rates for active duty and their families who lived at Camp Lejeune during the years of water contamination," she said in a statement.
Lejeune and Pendleton
The mortality study would compare deaths of Marines at Camp Lejeune to those at Camp Pendleton, Calif., over the same period to try to track the impact of the toxic water.
Thousands of former Marines and family members have complained of illnesses, including a variety of cancers, that they think could be linked to the toxic water.
More than 155,000 people from all 50 states have registered with the Marines to keep informed about the contamination and scientific studies. Among them is Laura Jones of Iowa, who sued the federal government after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2003. She lived with her husband on the base from 1980 to 1983, according to court documents.
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle held a hearing in Raleigh on Friday on the government's motion to dismiss her case. A decision will be made at a later date.
