Erin Brockovich Talks 'Last Call At The Oasis' And Water Contamination Issues
The Huffington Post
By Joanna Zelman
Posted: 05/1/2012
Environmental activist Erin Brockovich recently held a roundtable discussion at The Huffington Post's offices to address water contamination challenges, the upcoming documentary "Last Call At The Oasis," and her newest endeavor to combat health concerns around the world.
"Last Call At The Oasis" focuses on the growing global water crisis, from the drying up of Lake Mead to the fight to keep herbicides from tainting drinking water. The film highlights Brockovich's newest project, mapping disease clusters around the world in partnership with Google.
Brockovich told HuffPost that this "pet project" began as she was receiving up to 50,000 emails per month from people reporting health issues in their communities, writing concerns such as: "We think it's odd that we have 18 people on our street with Hodgkins; We think it's odd that we have 15 kids on our street with leukemia; We think it's odd that we have 20 people in the community with glioblastoma brain tumors."
read more here
Showing posts with label contaminated military base. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contaminated military base. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Congress members want answers on Lejeune toxic water report
Congress members want answers on Lejeune report
January 31, 2012 4:47 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAMP LEJEUNE — Three members of Congress from North Carolina, along with lawmakers from other states, are worried that information left out of a new report on water contamination at Camp Lejeune could set a troubling precedent for future research on the subject.
The three sent a letter to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asking why an affiliated agency blacked out information in its Jan. 19 report on the location of water systems used on the base that houses Marines.
The Marine Corps said that was sensitive national security information. The lawmakers are concerned that the agency was too willing to leave out the information, and that future data about contaminated water could be kept from the public without a valid reason.
"An open and transparent process is essential to this scientific endeavor and it is particularly important for the ongoing and future studies on Camp Lejeune's water contamination," Sen. Kay Hagan, Sen. Richard Burr and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller said in the letter that was also signed by lawmakers in Florida and Michigan.
read more here
January 31, 2012 4:47 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAMP LEJEUNE — Three members of Congress from North Carolina, along with lawmakers from other states, are worried that information left out of a new report on water contamination at Camp Lejeune could set a troubling precedent for future research on the subject.
The three sent a letter to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asking why an affiliated agency blacked out information in its Jan. 19 report on the location of water systems used on the base that houses Marines.
The Marine Corps said that was sensitive national security information. The lawmakers are concerned that the agency was too willing to leave out the information, and that future data about contaminated water could be kept from the public without a valid reason.
"An open and transparent process is essential to this scientific endeavor and it is particularly important for the ongoing and future studies on Camp Lejeune's water contamination," Sen. Kay Hagan, Sen. Richard Burr and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller said in the letter that was also signed by lawmakers in Florida and Michigan.
read more here
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Health survey headed to Tampa Bay veterans of Camp Lejeune
Health survey headed to Tampa Bay veterans of Camp Lejeune
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Sep 06, 2011 07:07 PM
Times Staff Writer
Tampa Bay residents who lived at Camp Lejeune, N.C., between 1972 and 1986 will receive a health survey by Friday as scientists research whether the base's polluted water harmed their health.
About 250,000 former residents of the Marine Corps base in every U.S. state are getting the mailing from the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, ATSDR officials say.
The survey is one of the largest of its type ever conducted and includes about 14,000 Floridians — 2,816 of those from the Tampa Bay area. ATSDR says the work may help direct future research.
But the survey, which must be returned to ATSDR by Christmas, comes amid controversy as critics accuse the Marine Corps and its Navy overseers of trying to quash participation. The Corps denies the charge.
"The Marine Corps fully supports ATSDR's work on the health survey and strongly encourages participation," said Capt. Kendra Hardesty, a Corps spokeswoman. "The more surveys that are filled out and returned, the more likely the results will be useful."
read more here
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Sep 06, 2011 07:07 PM
Times Staff Writer
Tampa Bay residents who lived at Camp Lejeune, N.C., between 1972 and 1986 will receive a health survey by Friday as scientists research whether the base's polluted water harmed their health.
About 250,000 former residents of the Marine Corps base in every U.S. state are getting the mailing from the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, ATSDR officials say.
The survey is one of the largest of its type ever conducted and includes about 14,000 Floridians — 2,816 of those from the Tampa Bay area. ATSDR says the work may help direct future research.
But the survey, which must be returned to ATSDR by Christmas, comes amid controversy as critics accuse the Marine Corps and its Navy overseers of trying to quash participation. The Corps denies the charge.
"The Marine Corps fully supports ATSDR's work on the health survey and strongly encourages participation," said Capt. Kendra Hardesty, a Corps spokeswoman. "The more surveys that are filled out and returned, the more likely the results will be useful."
read more here
Monday, August 29, 2011
Documenting a Fight for Environmental Justice at Camp Lejeune
Semper Fi: Always Faithful-- Documenting a Fight for Environmental Justice
Marcia G. YermanNYC writer focusing on women's issues; co-founder, cultureID
"There are over 130 contaminated military sites in the United states. This makes the Department of Defense the nation's largest polluter."
These words stand as the most salient message of the documentary Semper Fi: Always Faithful, a film that encompasses the worlds of environmental justice, the military, politics and science.
The protagonist of the narrative is Ret. Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger -- a formidable presence. When framed against the backdrop of the United States Capitol, his physical demeanor telegraphs that he is a man to be reckoned with. For Ensminger, the narrative begins with his daughter, Janey, who died at the age of 9 from a rare form of childhood leukemia. Trying to understand the reason behind her illness is the subtext of Ensminger's quest, as well as the connective tissue for the ensuing narrative about water contamination at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Ensminger's relentless search for truth is driven by the need to get answers not only for himself, but also for the nearly one million people who were unknowingly exposed to toxic chemicals at the base.
The backstory gets set in motion in 1941, when a fuel depot in operation at Camp Lejeune had leaks that were seeping into the ground -- 1,500 feet from a drinking water supply well. The estimated start date of the water contamination was 1957, when other improperly disposed of solvents additionally entered the mix. In 1975, Ensminger was living at Camp Lejeune. His wife was pregnant with Janey. In 1983, his daughter received her diagnosis. Ironically, unbeknownst to Ensminger, between 1980-1984, the water was being tested at the base with results consistently finding contaminants and "health concerns."
read more here
Marcia G. YermanNYC writer focusing on women's issues; co-founder, cultureID
"There are over 130 contaminated military sites in the United states. This makes the Department of Defense the nation's largest polluter."
These words stand as the most salient message of the documentary Semper Fi: Always Faithful, a film that encompasses the worlds of environmental justice, the military, politics and science.
The protagonist of the narrative is Ret. Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger -- a formidable presence. When framed against the backdrop of the United States Capitol, his physical demeanor telegraphs that he is a man to be reckoned with. For Ensminger, the narrative begins with his daughter, Janey, who died at the age of 9 from a rare form of childhood leukemia. Trying to understand the reason behind her illness is the subtext of Ensminger's quest, as well as the connective tissue for the ensuing narrative about water contamination at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Ensminger's relentless search for truth is driven by the need to get answers not only for himself, but also for the nearly one million people who were unknowingly exposed to toxic chemicals at the base.
The backstory gets set in motion in 1941, when a fuel depot in operation at Camp Lejeune had leaks that were seeping into the ground -- 1,500 feet from a drinking water supply well. The estimated start date of the water contamination was 1957, when other improperly disposed of solvents additionally entered the mix. In 1975, Ensminger was living at Camp Lejeune. His wife was pregnant with Janey. In 1983, his daughter received her diagnosis. Ironically, unbeknownst to Ensminger, between 1980-1984, the water was being tested at the base with results consistently finding contaminants and "health concerns."
read more here
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Male breast cancer patients denied Medicaid coverage
Male breast cancer patients denied Medicaid coverage
Published on August 9, 2011
By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD
Many men with breast cancer are being denied Medicaid coverage for breast cancer treatment because of their gender.
The American Cancer society's pages on breast cancer in men lay out the facts. About 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, which makes it rare: about 100 times more women get the disease. It is known that men, like women, are more likely to develop cancer if they have certain mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Family history and age contribute to a man's likelihood of developing the disease as well. Heavy drinking and exposure to radiation are believed to be risk factors, as is obesity. A recent breast cancer cluster among men who had been exposed to contaminated drinking water at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune had patients wondering if there was also a link between chemical exposure and the disease.
read more here
Male breast cancer patients denied Medicaid coverage
Published on August 9, 2011
By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD
Many men with breast cancer are being denied Medicaid coverage for breast cancer treatment because of their gender.
The American Cancer society's pages on breast cancer in men lay out the facts. About 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, which makes it rare: about 100 times more women get the disease. It is known that men, like women, are more likely to develop cancer if they have certain mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Family history and age contribute to a man's likelihood of developing the disease as well. Heavy drinking and exposure to radiation are believed to be risk factors, as is obesity. A recent breast cancer cluster among men who had been exposed to contaminated drinking water at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune had patients wondering if there was also a link between chemical exposure and the disease.
read more here
Male breast cancer patients denied Medicaid coverage
Friday, July 8, 2011
Lejeune water documentary receives standing ovation
Lejeune water documentary receives standing ovation
July 07, 2011 9:47 AM
HOPE HODGE
An award-winning new documentary about a search for answers regarding a period of water contamination aboard Camp Lejeune received standing ovations at a screening recently inside the U.S. Capitol.
The film, Semper Fi: Always Faithful, tells the story of Onslow County resident and former Camp Lejeune Marine Jerry Ensminger, who began a single-minded fight to learn the truth after he discovered that a three-decade period of water contamination in base housing areas could be responsible for the leukemia death of his 9-year-old daughter Janey in 1985.
It was screened on June 23 by Rep. Brad Miller, D-NC, and Sen. Richard Burr, R-NC, and sponsored by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-NC, and Rep.John Dingell, D-MI, all endorsers of legislation that would grant care through the department of Veterans Affairs to former Lejeune troops and family members affected by exposure to base water.
Miller, who introduced the film, said he had been won to the cause by the persistence and dedication of advocates like Ensminger.
read more here
Lejeune water documentary receives standing ovation
also
Pension comes just in time for disabled South Bend veteran
KEVIN ALLEN
South Bend Tribune Staff Writer
5:38 p.m. EDT, July 7, 2011
SOUTH BEND — Eileen Sullivan looks back a little more than a month ago and, understandably, says she was a basket case.
Her husband, John, suffers from seizures, debilitating joint and muscle pain, and other health issues he blames on exposure to contaminated water while serving in the Marine Corps in the 1980s.
John already was unable to work, as his health was declining. Eileen was spending so much time caring for him, she couldn’t find a job on the side.
The Sullivans had been waiting 16 months for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to determine John’s eligibility for a pension.
The couple were on the verge of losing their home near Edison Park. They struggled to fill their car’s gas tank, not to mention buy food for themselves and their two daughters, ages 8 and 13.
Then, on June 4, they received some relief.
Eileen said a VA official called to say John’s pension request was approved. The 45-year-old was classified as disabled and would begin receiving a monthly check of about $1,600 as well as a lump sum of roughly $11,000 in retroactive pension payments.
read more of this here
Pension comes just in time for disabled South Bend veteran
July 07, 2011 9:47 AM
HOPE HODGE
An award-winning new documentary about a search for answers regarding a period of water contamination aboard Camp Lejeune received standing ovations at a screening recently inside the U.S. Capitol.
The film, Semper Fi: Always Faithful, tells the story of Onslow County resident and former Camp Lejeune Marine Jerry Ensminger, who began a single-minded fight to learn the truth after he discovered that a three-decade period of water contamination in base housing areas could be responsible for the leukemia death of his 9-year-old daughter Janey in 1985.
It was screened on June 23 by Rep. Brad Miller, D-NC, and Sen. Richard Burr, R-NC, and sponsored by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-NC, and Rep.John Dingell, D-MI, all endorsers of legislation that would grant care through the department of Veterans Affairs to former Lejeune troops and family members affected by exposure to base water.
Miller, who introduced the film, said he had been won to the cause by the persistence and dedication of advocates like Ensminger.
read more here
Lejeune water documentary receives standing ovation
also
Pension comes just in time for disabled South Bend veteran
KEVIN ALLEN
South Bend Tribune Staff Writer
5:38 p.m. EDT, July 7, 2011
SOUTH BEND — Eileen Sullivan looks back a little more than a month ago and, understandably, says she was a basket case.
Her husband, John, suffers from seizures, debilitating joint and muscle pain, and other health issues he blames on exposure to contaminated water while serving in the Marine Corps in the 1980s.
John already was unable to work, as his health was declining. Eileen was spending so much time caring for him, she couldn’t find a job on the side.
The Sullivans had been waiting 16 months for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to determine John’s eligibility for a pension.
The couple were on the verge of losing their home near Edison Park. They struggled to fill their car’s gas tank, not to mention buy food for themselves and their two daughters, ages 8 and 13.
Then, on June 4, they received some relief.
Eileen said a VA official called to say John’s pension request was approved. The 45-year-old was classified as disabled and would begin receiving a monthly check of about $1,600 as well as a lump sum of roughly $11,000 in retroactive pension payments.
read more of this here
Pension comes just in time for disabled South Bend veteran
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Marine Corps Records on Camp Lejeune Site Missing
Marine Corps Records on Camp Lejeune Site Missing
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
Published: Saturday, May 21, 2011
Some soil at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was so saturated with fuel and chemicals by the late 1980s, the Marine Corps knew it was critical to test the air in nearby buildings for carcinogens.
"We want to be sure that there are no compounds present inside the work spaces in these buildings — which could have a long-term chronic adverse health effect on occupants," base environmental engineer Bob Alexander told the public in 1988.
Testing, he said, would begin "in the very near future."
But nothing in the vast collection of public records detailing one of the nation's worst contamination sites shows the Marine Corps kept that promise.
The only indoor air quality testing reflected in records occurred a decade or more later. And by then, fuel odors were so bad that five buildings would be demolished.
After weeks of searching their files, Corps officials acknowledged to the St. Petersburg Times that they could find no documentation that testing was completed before the late 1990s.
read more here
Marine Corps Records on Camp Lejeune Site Missing
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
Published: Saturday, May 21, 2011
Some soil at Camp Lejeune, N.C., was so saturated with fuel and chemicals by the late 1980s, the Marine Corps knew it was critical to test the air in nearby buildings for carcinogens.
"We want to be sure that there are no compounds present inside the work spaces in these buildings — which could have a long-term chronic adverse health effect on occupants," base environmental engineer Bob Alexander told the public in 1988.
Testing, he said, would begin "in the very near future."
But nothing in the vast collection of public records detailing one of the nation's worst contamination sites shows the Marine Corps kept that promise.
The only indoor air quality testing reflected in records occurred a decade or more later. And by then, fuel odors were so bad that five buildings would be demolished.
After weeks of searching their files, Corps officials acknowledged to the St. Petersburg Times that they could find no documentation that testing was completed before the late 1990s.
read more here
Marine Corps Records on Camp Lejeune Site Missing
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Camp Lejeune Toxic Water, Now Toxic Air?
Lejeune Toxic Water, Now Toxic Air?
The Marine Corps may have known the air could make people sick for years before taking action.
By CHRIS BROWN
Published: May 19, 2011
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - For years we've told you about toxic chemicals in tap water at camp lejeune, and the impact they're having on the health of people exposed, but recently uncovered documents show the water may not have been the only thing making people sick.
The air on some areas of the base may also have been toxic.
Document after document, paint a startling picture.
More than a million gallons of contaminants leaked into the ground at Camp Lejeune, not only poisioning the water, but the air as well, and Jerry Ensminger found proof.
“One skeleton after another comes falling out of the closet in this situation,” said Ensminger, whose daughter died of cancer when she was 9, while their family lived on base.
read more here
Lejeune Toxic Water, Now Toxic Air?
The Marine Corps may have known the air could make people sick for years before taking action.
By CHRIS BROWN
Published: May 19, 2011
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - For years we've told you about toxic chemicals in tap water at camp lejeune, and the impact they're having on the health of people exposed, but recently uncovered documents show the water may not have been the only thing making people sick.
The air on some areas of the base may also have been toxic.
Document after document, paint a startling picture.
More than a million gallons of contaminants leaked into the ground at Camp Lejeune, not only poisioning the water, but the air as well, and Jerry Ensminger found proof.
“One skeleton after another comes falling out of the closet in this situation,” said Ensminger, whose daughter died of cancer when she was 9, while their family lived on base.
read more here
Lejeune Toxic Water, Now Toxic Air?
Friday, August 20, 2010
Problems uncovered in Meade cleanup
Problems uncovered in Meade cleanup
Fed report finds pollution repair efforts ineffective at military posts
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer
Published 08/19/10
When it comes to cleaning up polluted military installations - including Fort George G. Meade - federal defense and environmental officials are rarely on the same page, threatening the success of restoration efforts, according to a new report.
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, spent a year and a half evaluating the efforts to clean up decades' worth of pollution at Fort Meade and other military installations. The GAO's report found serious problems, including:
The Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency have different ways of defining polluted areas and measuring cleanup efforts.
Some military facilities don't have formal cleanup agreements with the EPA. Fort Meade's agreement was signed in 2009 - after the GAO investigation began and the state threatened to sue.
The military uses performance-based contracts, which may motivate environmental contractors to overlook problems or push for less costly and less-complicated cleanup techniques.
In some cases, the military moved forward with cleanups without approval from the EPA.
The GAO report, released Monday, looked at the 141 military installations on the "National Priorities List" or "Superfund list" of the nation's most polluted sites. It gave special attention to Fort Meade, McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey and Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
read more here
Problems uncovered in Meade cleanup
linked from Stars and Stripes
for more from the EPA go here
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/index.htm
Fed report finds pollution repair efforts ineffective at military posts
By PAMELA WOOD, Staff Writer
Published 08/19/10
When it comes to cleaning up polluted military installations - including Fort George G. Meade - federal defense and environmental officials are rarely on the same page, threatening the success of restoration efforts, according to a new report.
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, spent a year and a half evaluating the efforts to clean up decades' worth of pollution at Fort Meade and other military installations. The GAO's report found serious problems, including:
The Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency have different ways of defining polluted areas and measuring cleanup efforts.
Some military facilities don't have formal cleanup agreements with the EPA. Fort Meade's agreement was signed in 2009 - after the GAO investigation began and the state threatened to sue.
The military uses performance-based contracts, which may motivate environmental contractors to overlook problems or push for less costly and less-complicated cleanup techniques.
In some cases, the military moved forward with cleanups without approval from the EPA.
The GAO report, released Monday, looked at the 141 military installations on the "National Priorities List" or "Superfund list" of the nation's most polluted sites. It gave special attention to Fort Meade, McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey and Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.
read more here
Problems uncovered in Meade cleanup
linked from Stars and Stripes
for more from the EPA go here
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/index.htm
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Camp Lejeune Marines begin to get benefits for toxic water
VA quietly giving benefits to Marines exposed to toxic water
By BARBARA BARRETT
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Former Marine Corps Cpl. Peter Devereaux was told about a year ago that he had just two or three years to live.
More than 12 months later, at 48, he still isn't ready to concede that the cancer that's wasting his innards is going to kill him. He swallows his pills and suffers the pain and each afternoon he greets his 12-year-old daughter, Jackie, as she steps off her school bus in North Andover, Mass.
The U.S. Department of the Navy says that more research is needed to connect ailments suffered by Marines such as Devereaux who served at Camp Lejeune and their families who lived there to decades of water contamination at the 156,000-acre base in eastern North Carolina. Meanwhile, however, the Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly begun awarding benefits to a few Marines who were based at Lejeune.
Read more: VA quietly giving benefits to Marines exposed to toxic water
By BARBARA BARRETT
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Former Marine Corps Cpl. Peter Devereaux was told about a year ago that he had just two or three years to live.
More than 12 months later, at 48, he still isn't ready to concede that the cancer that's wasting his innards is going to kill him. He swallows his pills and suffers the pain and each afternoon he greets his 12-year-old daughter, Jackie, as she steps off her school bus in North Andover, Mass.
The U.S. Department of the Navy says that more research is needed to connect ailments suffered by Marines such as Devereaux who served at Camp Lejeune and their families who lived there to decades of water contamination at the 156,000-acre base in eastern North Carolina. Meanwhile, however, the Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly begun awarding benefits to a few Marines who were based at Lejeune.
Read more: VA quietly giving benefits to Marines exposed to toxic water
Monday, April 19, 2010
Camp Lejeune ignored water warnings
Report: Lejeune ignored water warnings
Published: April 18, 2010 at 9:37 PM
WASHINGTON, April 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Marine Corps denies officials disregarded warnings about contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, N.C., for years.
Thousands of Marines and their families drank, cooked and bathed in water laced with dangerous chemicals, The (Charlotte, N.C.) Observer said Sunday in an exclusive report. Citing documents, the newspaper said when outside contractors raised concerns base officials ignored their warnings or ordered more tests.
The most contaminated wells shut down in 1984, more than four years after the first of repeated warnings, the newspaper said.
"The kind part of me wants to say (the Marines) took a while to figure it out," said Mike Hargett, a contractor who had raised questions about the water in 1982 and 1983. "The unkind part says somebody was sloppy and negligent."
read more here
Lejeune ignored water warnings
Published: April 18, 2010 at 9:37 PM
WASHINGTON, April 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Marine Corps denies officials disregarded warnings about contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, N.C., for years.
Thousands of Marines and their families drank, cooked and bathed in water laced with dangerous chemicals, The (Charlotte, N.C.) Observer said Sunday in an exclusive report. Citing documents, the newspaper said when outside contractors raised concerns base officials ignored their warnings or ordered more tests.
The most contaminated wells shut down in 1984, more than four years after the first of repeated warnings, the newspaper said.
"The kind part of me wants to say (the Marines) took a while to figure it out," said Mike Hargett, a contractor who had raised questions about the water in 1982 and 1983. "The unkind part says somebody was sloppy and negligent."
read more here
Lejeune ignored water warnings
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Agency says Camp Lejeune water tainted for 30 years
From 1957 to 1987, according to the agency, residents and employees at Lejeune were drinking, showering in and washing dishes with water coursing with contaminants.
Agency says military base water tainted
Sunday, February 21, 2010
By Daniel Malloy, Post-Gazette Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Cliff Armstrong started getting migraines about 15 years ago.
Then, he felt disoriented and suffered from memory loss. Respiratory infections and adult-onset asthma came next, before Mr. Armstrong was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, a disease with no known cure that attacked his spine and organs.
"It just seems like everything is falling apart," said Mr. Armstrong of Cabot. "And I'm only 46 years old. I don't smoke. I don't have a risky lifestyle. I'm a pretty safe person. So where's all this coming from?"
In October 2008, he received a letter from his former employer: the U.S. Marine Corps. The Corps wanted him to register for a study on water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on the North Carolina coast.
Mr. Armstrong, who lived on the base on and off between 1981 and 1985, signed up. In July, he got another letter, accompanied by research from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry -- part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Read more: Agency says military base water tainted
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Former Lejeune Marine receiving partial disability due to water contamination
Former Lejeune Marine receiving partial disability due to water contamination
October 29, 2009 1:10 AM
HOPE HODGE
A former Camp Lejeune Marine who received partial disability benefits because of exposure to contaminated water on base believes other veterans should go to their doctors to get their claims substantiated.
John Hartung of Waukesha, Wis., was awarded a 30-percent disability from the Veterans Benefits Administration last month after his doctor drafted and signed a “nexus letter” verifying his medical belief that Hartung’s ailments were more likely than not caused by exposure to toxic water.
Hartung was stationed at Lejeune for six months in 1977 and said he “got sick right away” after exposure to base water, which contained significant amounts of leaked solvents including TCE and PCE between the 1950s and the 1980s. Hartung said he developed large cysts on the back of his neck as well as chronic fatigue and was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1978 because of continuing medical problems.
read more here
http://www.jdnews.com/news/disability-69320-partial-veterans.html
October 29, 2009 1:10 AM
HOPE HODGE
A former Camp Lejeune Marine who received partial disability benefits because of exposure to contaminated water on base believes other veterans should go to their doctors to get their claims substantiated.
John Hartung of Waukesha, Wis., was awarded a 30-percent disability from the Veterans Benefits Administration last month after his doctor drafted and signed a “nexus letter” verifying his medical belief that Hartung’s ailments were more likely than not caused by exposure to toxic water.
Hartung was stationed at Lejeune for six months in 1977 and said he “got sick right away” after exposure to base water, which contained significant amounts of leaked solvents including TCE and PCE between the 1950s and the 1980s. Hartung said he developed large cysts on the back of his neck as well as chronic fatigue and was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1978 because of continuing medical problems.
read more here
http://www.jdnews.com/news/disability-69320-partial-veterans.html
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Marine Corps misled public about Camp Lejeune's toxic waters
[Photos special to the Times]
“It’s my Marine Corps. I love it. But if I found out they deliberately misused me, I’d be very disappointed.” Dan Mills, 62, a retired Marine, here with his daughter Sabrina. Mills served at Camp Lejeune from 1966 to 1968. He thinks water at the base caused three primary cancers he now has. Doctors have given him six months or less to live. Mills lives in the Orlando area.
Camp Lejeune's toxic waters
Marine Corps misled public
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, October 18, 2009
A St. Petersburg Times review of Marine Corps documents shows that Camp Lejeune failed to close its toxic wells for years — despite stark warnings that its drinking water was befouled by industrial cleaning solvents. The Corps then provided misleading information about the contamination to regulators, the public and its Marines.
click link for more
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Troops stationed at Qarmat Ali to be tested for chemical contamination
Iraq vets at treatment plant asked to get exam
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six years after nearly 1,200 U.S. soldiers in Iraq were potentially exposed to a sometimes deadly chemical linked to cancer, the military and Veterans Affairs Department have been tracking them down and asking them to get a medical exam.
The troops were protecting or in the area of workers hired by a subsidiary of the contractor, KBR Inc., based in Houston, to rebuild the Iraqi water treatment plant Qarmat Ali near Basra, Iraq. The chemical was sodium dichromate, and it had contaminated the area.
In June, The Associated Press chronicled the health problems of the soldiers who had served at the site. Sickness with symptoms ranging from chest pain to lung disease and even death among troops who served there have been blamed on exposure at the site.
read more here
Iraq vets at treatment plant asked to get exam
linked fromhttp://www.icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six years after nearly 1,200 U.S. soldiers in Iraq were potentially exposed to a sometimes deadly chemical linked to cancer, the military and Veterans Affairs Department have been tracking them down and asking them to get a medical exam.
The troops were protecting or in the area of workers hired by a subsidiary of the contractor, KBR Inc., based in Houston, to rebuild the Iraqi water treatment plant Qarmat Ali near Basra, Iraq. The chemical was sodium dichromate, and it had contaminated the area.
In June, The Associated Press chronicled the health problems of the soldiers who had served at the site. Sickness with symptoms ranging from chest pain to lung disease and even death among troops who served there have been blamed on exposure at the site.
read more here
Iraq vets at treatment plant asked to get exam
linked fromhttp://www.icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
40 men from Camp Lejeune now report breast cancer
40 men from Camp Lejeune now report breast cancer
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Florida man with male breast cancer says he has now identified 39 other men with the rare disease who all share one thing: They lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
The numbers surprise scientists studying water contamination at the Marine Corps installation where up to a million Marines and family members may have been exposed to tainted water during 30 years ending in the late 1980s.
Among them are more than 12,000 Floridians who have signed up for a health survey.
"This is statistically unheard of," said Tallahassee resident Mike Partain, 41, a breast cancer survivor who was born at the base and is looking for others like himself. "We've got a cancer cluster that defies explanation."
The cluster is expected to be discussed Thursday when the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs holds a hearing on contamination at U.S. military installations. A Marine Corps major general is expected to testify, as will Partain.
read more here
40 men from Camp Lejeune now report breast cancer
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Florida man with male breast cancer says he has now identified 39 other men with the rare disease who all share one thing: They lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
The numbers surprise scientists studying water contamination at the Marine Corps installation where up to a million Marines and family members may have been exposed to tainted water during 30 years ending in the late 1980s.
Among them are more than 12,000 Floridians who have signed up for a health survey.
"This is statistically unheard of," said Tallahassee resident Mike Partain, 41, a breast cancer survivor who was born at the base and is looking for others like himself. "We've got a cancer cluster that defies explanation."
The cluster is expected to be discussed Thursday when the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs holds a hearing on contamination at U.S. military installations. A Marine Corps major general is expected to testify, as will Partain.
read more here
40 men from Camp Lejeune now report breast cancer
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Male breast cancer patients blame water at Marine base
Male breast cancer patients blame water at Marine base
Story Highlights
20 people, all Marines or sons of Marines, have had male breast cancer
Each lived at Camp Lejeune between the 1960s and 1980s
"We all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune," one says
Marine Corps says two studies found no link to "adverse health effects
From Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series.
Jim Fontella was based at Camp Lejeune in 1966 and 1967. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998.
TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- The sick men are Marines, or sons of Marines. All 20 of them were based at or lived at Camp Lejeune, the U.S. Marine Corps' training base in North Carolina, between the 1960s and the 1980s.
They all have had breast cancer -- a disease that strikes fewer than 2,000 men in the United States a year, compared with about 200,000 women. Each has had part of his chest removed as part of his treatment, along with chemotherapy, radiation or both.
And they blame their time at Camp Lejeune, where government records show drinking water was contaminated with high levels of toxic chemicals for three decades, for their illnesses.
"We come from all walks of life," said Mike Partain, the son and grandson of Marines, who was born on the base 40 years ago. "And some of us have college degrees, some of us have blue-collar jobs. We are all over the country. And what is our commonality? Our commonality is that we all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune. Go figure."
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/24/marines.breast.cancer/index.html
Story Highlights
20 people, all Marines or sons of Marines, have had male breast cancer
Each lived at Camp Lejeune between the 1960s and 1980s
"We all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune," one says
Marine Corps says two studies found no link to "adverse health effects
From Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series.
Jim Fontella was based at Camp Lejeune in 1966 and 1967. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998.
TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- The sick men are Marines, or sons of Marines. All 20 of them were based at or lived at Camp Lejeune, the U.S. Marine Corps' training base in North Carolina, between the 1960s and the 1980s.
They all have had breast cancer -- a disease that strikes fewer than 2,000 men in the United States a year, compared with about 200,000 women. Each has had part of his chest removed as part of his treatment, along with chemotherapy, radiation or both.
And they blame their time at Camp Lejeune, where government records show drinking water was contaminated with high levels of toxic chemicals for three decades, for their illnesses.
"We come from all walks of life," said Mike Partain, the son and grandson of Marines, who was born on the base 40 years ago. "And some of us have college degrees, some of us have blue-collar jobs. We are all over the country. And what is our commonality? Our commonality is that we all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune. Go figure."
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/24/marines.breast.cancer/index.html
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Marine Spouse Battles Navy Over Contamination at Naval Base in Japan
Marine Spouse Battles Navy Over Contamination at Naval Base in Japan
Robert O'Dowd Salem-News.com
Shelly Parulis, wife of a retired Marine Master Sergeant, is engaged in a running battle with the Navy over dioxin and other toxins at NAF Atsugi, Japan.
(ATSUGI, Japan) - No one assigned to Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi, the home of Carrier Air Wing 5, would have suspected that duty in Japan could exposed them to toxic chemicals, including deadly dioxin, the carcinogen infamously associated with Agent Orange.
In fact, prior to the closure of Atsugi’s privately owned Envirotech (formerly Shinkampo) incinerators in 2001, that is exactly what happened to military, dependents, and civilian workers stationed at NAF Atsugi during the period 1985 to 2001. Your browser may not support display of this image.
NAF Atsugi is located on Honshu, the main island of Japan. The base, about 20 miles from Tokyo, was originally built in 1938 by the Japanese Imperial Navy as Emperor Hirohito's Naval Air Base to address the threat posed by foreseen American bombing raids of the Japanese mainland.
Shelly Parulis, a spouse of a retired Marine Master Sergeant who was stationed at Atsugi from 1995 to 1998, and her family suffered the results of toxic exposure and leads the effort to obtain compensation and health benefits for Atsugi veterans, dependents ad civilian workers.
read more here
Marine Spouse Battles Navy Over Contamination at Naval Base in Japan
Robert O'Dowd Salem-News.com
Shelly Parulis, wife of a retired Marine Master Sergeant, is engaged in a running battle with the Navy over dioxin and other toxins at NAF Atsugi, Japan.
(ATSUGI, Japan) - No one assigned to Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi, the home of Carrier Air Wing 5, would have suspected that duty in Japan could exposed them to toxic chemicals, including deadly dioxin, the carcinogen infamously associated with Agent Orange.
In fact, prior to the closure of Atsugi’s privately owned Envirotech (formerly Shinkampo) incinerators in 2001, that is exactly what happened to military, dependents, and civilian workers stationed at NAF Atsugi during the period 1985 to 2001. Your browser may not support display of this image.
NAF Atsugi is located on Honshu, the main island of Japan. The base, about 20 miles from Tokyo, was originally built in 1938 by the Japanese Imperial Navy as Emperor Hirohito's Naval Air Base to address the threat posed by foreseen American bombing raids of the Japanese mainland.
Shelly Parulis, a spouse of a retired Marine Master Sergeant who was stationed at Atsugi from 1995 to 1998, and her family suffered the results of toxic exposure and leads the effort to obtain compensation and health benefits for Atsugi veterans, dependents ad civilian workers.
read more here
Marine Spouse Battles Navy Over Contamination at Naval Base in Japan
Friday, July 3, 2009
Growing list of men with breast cancer linked to Camp Lejeune
Now 17 veterans with rare cancer or tumors with Camp Lejeune ties
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Jul 03, 2009 06:01 PM
Scientists studying drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune were startled when 11 men with breast cancer and ties to the North Carolina base were identified over the last two years.
Six more have been found in one week.
Five additional men with breast cancer and a sixth who had a double mastectomy after doctors found pre-cancerous tumors contacted the St. Petersburg Times last week after reading a story about the 11 men with the rare disease.
"This male breast cancer cluster is a smoking gun," breast cancer survivor Mike Partain said on Friday. "You just can't ignore it. You don't need science to tell you something is wrong. It's common sense. It begs to be studied."
Partain, 41, of Tallahassee, was born at the Marines Corps base and diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. He has worked for two years to find other men with breast cancer who lived at Camp Lejeune.
He found the first nine men before the Times profiled his search in a story on June 28, a story that noted the newspaper had found another man not on Partain's list.
go here for more and please pass this on to anyone you know stationed at Camp Lejeune
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article1015699.ece
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Jul 03, 2009 06:01 PM
Scientists studying drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune were startled when 11 men with breast cancer and ties to the North Carolina base were identified over the last two years.
Six more have been found in one week.
Five additional men with breast cancer and a sixth who had a double mastectomy after doctors found pre-cancerous tumors contacted the St. Petersburg Times last week after reading a story about the 11 men with the rare disease.
"This male breast cancer cluster is a smoking gun," breast cancer survivor Mike Partain said on Friday. "You just can't ignore it. You don't need science to tell you something is wrong. It's common sense. It begs to be studied."
Partain, 41, of Tallahassee, was born at the Marines Corps base and diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. He has worked for two years to find other men with breast cancer who lived at Camp Lejeune.
He found the first nine men before the Times profiled his search in a story on June 28, a story that noted the newspaper had found another man not on Partain's list.
go here for more and please pass this on to anyone you know stationed at Camp Lejeune
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article1015699.ece
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Camp Lejeune contamination leaves Marines behind
Camp Lejeune was supposed to take care of the Marines and their families. They were supposed to actually care about their well being. It looks like no matter what Marines and their families were exposed to at Lejeune, they military will not accept responsibility for any of it.
If you know someone stationed at Camp Lejeune, pass this onto them and encourage them to file a claim if they are ill, contact their congressman and their local media. This cannot be dropped.
If you know someone stationed at Camp Lejeune, pass this onto them and encourage them to file a claim if they are ill, contact their congressman and their local media. This cannot be dropped.
Ill veterans push for answers on Lejeune contamination
By Bruce Henderson - McClatchy Newspapers
Kidney cancer, Mike Edwards says, came so close to killing him five years ago that he saw a stairway to heaven and smelled the brimstone of hell.
Now, Edwards and thousands of other veterans are caught in a kind of purgatory. They believe decades of drinking-water contamination at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base sickened them or their family members.
But they may never know the truth.
Federal officials acknowledge that, from the 1950s to 1985, up to 500,000 people at Lejeune might have been exposed to high doses of chemicals that probably cause cancer and other illnesses.
A new report offers little hope of answers. No amount of study, it said, is likely to conclusively prove the contamination made anybody sick.
So many people came and went from Lejeune over the years, said a June 13 report from the National Research Council, that it's unlikely many can be located. It's also hard to estimate the amount of chemicals they might have been exposed to so long ago, it said, and to separate that from toxic substances encountered elsewhere.
Those problems, the committee concluded, "cannot be overcome with additional study."
The Navy has received 1,583 claims for compensation, totaling $34 billion. None have been settled. The Veterans Administration says it offers no health benefits from the Lejeune contamination.
go here for more
http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/948590.html
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