Camp Lejeune Contaminated Water Lawsuit
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is conducting a study into the effects of toxic exposure from contaminated drinking water at a Marine Base in North Carolina. Two of eight water treatment facilities supplying water to the Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina were found to be contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from 1957 through 1987. Those potentially at risk include Marines, Sailors, their families and civilian employees who were on base anytime between 1957 and 1985.
Causes of Camp Lejeune Water Contamination
Water from the Tarawa Terrace Treatment Plant and the Hadnot Point Treatment Plant were found to be contaminated primarily by two toxic chemicals.
The Tarawa Terrace Treatment Plant was contaminated by perchloroethylene (PCE), a colorless liquid most commonly used for dry cleaning. The source of this contamination was found to be the waste disposal practices of an off-base dry cleaning firm. The PCE levels at the Tarawa Terrace Treatment Plant highly exceeded current standards between November 1957 and February 1987, according to ATSDR.
At the Hadnot Point Treatment Plant, the water was contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE), a volatile anesthetic. The sources of TCE contamination includes leaking underground storage tanks, industrial area spills and waste disposal sites.
Side Effects of Contaminated Water Exposure
There has been suggestive evidence of a link between extended exposure to PCE or TCE and serious and often fatal diseases, including:
- Liver cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Breast cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Lung cancer
- Leukemia
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Liver disease
- Miscarriages
- Birth defects
In 2005, ASTDR began a study evaluating whether children whose mothers were exposed to the contaminated water at Camp LeJeune were at an increased risk of birth defects such as spina bifida, cleft lip or cleft palate and childhood leukemia.
Veterans Benefit Attorneys
If you or your loved ones were stationed at Camp LeJeune in North Carolina between 1957 and 1987 and have suffered adverse effects and illnesses, do not hesitate to contact our veteran’s benefits lawyers. You stood up for our country. Let us stand up for you and help you obtain the compensation you deserve. We believe that that those who have been put in harms way by the negligence of another are entitled to justice. Contact us today to begin exploring your legal options.
