The water contamination at Camp Lejeune has been known by the US government for decades. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a subsidiary of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has been studying the water contamination of Camp Lejeune through water modeling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) since 1993. ATSDR is studying the connection between the contaminated groundwater at Camp Lejeune to cancers and other serious diseases reported by on-base workers, service members, and their families. ATSDR has found that certain water wells at Camp Lejeune were contaminated between August 1953 and December 1987. ATSDR’s studies regarding the correlation between the contaminated water and illnesses such as cancer and digestive diseases continue through today.
Between 1999 and 2002, approximately 76,000 former Marines, employees, and dependents participated in a study identifying the correlation between the toxic chemicals found in the water of Camp Lejeune and potential cancer or diseases. A control group of former Marines, employees, and dependents from Camp Pendleton in Southern California also participated in the study. An additional study of just over 24,500 former Marines, employees, and dependents who did not participate in the previous study was surveyed between 2011 and 2013.
ATSRD studies have identified connections between the toxic drinking water from Marine Base Camp Lejeune and potential illnesses suffered by former Marines, base employees, and their family members. ATSRD has identified prostate, female breast, cervical, colon, and lung cancers as illnesses with a direct correlation to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. Other diseases have been linked to the toxic water as well and new study results may reveal more valuable information.
To learn more about the diseases and health conditions that have been linked to the toxic water at Camp Lejeune and what you can do to help support the Camp Lejeune Justice Act, please visit our Camp Lejeune page here or contact our firm by phone at 800-800-1102.