Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune water contaminated, CDC report finds

The drinking water at the base increased the risk of several cancers by at least 20 percent for military personnel stationed there from 1975 to 1985, officials said Wednesday. The report is touted as the largest study the government has done on the water contamination at Camp Lejeune. However, the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has conducted numerous research projects into water contamination.

What exactly does this report say? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report, released on Monday, concluded that military personnel and families living on the base and using its water for drinking, cooking, and bathing had a higher risk of contracting leukemia and lymphoma, as well as breast, lung, throat, esophagus, and thyroid cancer. Civilians working on the base experienced a higher risk of a lower number of cancers. In contrast, residents of Camp Pendleton reported lower rates of those types of cancers during the same time period.

How did this come to be? The U.S. Marine Corps established the base in a forest near the North Carolina coast in 1942. From the 1950s to the 1980s, solvents discarded from nearby industrial sites and an off-base dry cleaner contaminated the installation’s drinking water. Authorities began testing the drinking water in 1980 and, two years later, concluded that the water on the base was contaminated.

What’s being done about this? For years, lawsuits have been crawling through the court system from former residents of the base alleging the U.S. Marine Corps did not properly care for the health of its servicemembers and their families. More than 150,000 people have already filed claims related to the lawsuits. Those who have lived or worked at the base and experienced health issues have until Aug. 10, 2024, to join the lawsuits.

Dig deeper: Read Todd Vician’s report in WORLD Magazine about the declining number of people joining the military.