| Agency says military base water tainted |
|
|
|
Sunday, February 21, 2010
WASHINGTON -- Cliff Armstrong started getting migraines about 15 years ago. 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. After some digging on the Internet, Mr. Armstrong said he was outraged. 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. Perchloroethylene (PCE), trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (DCE), trichloroethylene, (TCE), benzene and other chemicals made their way into groundwater wells that served the base from an off-base dry cleaning firm, leaks from underground storage tanks and other sources, according to the agency. Concentrations of chemicals were up to 240 times what the Environmental Protection Agency has determined is the maximum safe level, according to government studies. Officials at Lejeune had known about the contaminants since 1980, according to a federal Government Accountability Office report, but they moved slowly to shut down affected water systems. "I can only surmise that we simply did not understand the ramifications of that contamination," Maj. Gen. Gray Payne, who now oversees Marine Corps facilities but did not during the years of contamination, told a Senate panel in October. The ramifications have been far-reaching and devastating, according to former base residents who believe their health has been damaged by exposure to the contaminated water. An estimated 1 million Marines and their family members lived on the base during the 30-year period of water contamination. As of December, nearly 150,000 people had registered for the study. About 7,800 of them live in Pennsylvania, making it the state with the fifth-highest number of participants. Those who have registered report ailments ranging from male breast cancer to birth defects for their children. At a recent news conference on Capitol Hill, North Carolina resident Jerry Ensminger choked up when describing how his 9-year-old daughter, Janey, died of leukemia. She was born on the base in 1975. The stories of Jerry Ensminger and many others are told, and statistics about their lives are compiled, on a website that those who were on the base during the period in question are using to learn and commiserate. In military style, its address is an acronym -- Tftptf.com: The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten. Fighting over benefits Among their common complaints: lack of access to health care. Mr. Armstrong, who works for a manufacturing company in Evans City, said he has good health insurance coverage through his wife's employer. But he said he believes it is unfair that his family's insurance should be tapped to pay for his costly care, and he is concerned about the premiums rising. And if eventually he is no longer able to work, Mr. Armstrong said he fears it will be nearly impossible to win a disability claim filed with the Veterans Administration or the military. If his health problems are found to be service-related, he could qualify for VA care. But that would require a doctor's conclusive diagnosis that his conditions are linked to the Lejeune water contamination. That's difficult to come by, as official studies have been delayed or inconclusive. North Carolina's congressional delegation has led efforts to guarantee VA health care for any soldier or military family member who lived on the base during the contamination period and now displays symptoms of numerous health problems. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., introduced a bill to that effect in the Senate in July, while Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., earlier this month proposed a companion measure in the House. The estimated cost: $1.1 billion over 10 years, Mr. Miller said. At a Jan. 28 hearing in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Mr. Burr's proposal failed on a party-line vote. Under a larger bill introduced by committee chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, Marines and their relatives who lived on the base during the period in question would have access to health care through either the VA or Tricare, the military's health insurance plan. That bill is pending before the Armed Services Committee. But Mr. Burr as well as some former residents of the base said they are doubtful that committee leaders will move the measure forward because of pressure from military officials who have maintained there is no proof that the contamination caused health problems. The VA, which already is caring for service members who have been wounded in ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, also has come out against the Burr plan. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, in a letter to Mr. Akaka, said Tricare is "much better suited to treatment of dependents" and said the VA estimated a far higher price tag for that care: $4.16 billion. Leaders of the Disabled American Veterans and Paralyzed Veterans of America also wrote to Mr. Akaka in favor of Tricare providing care, rather than the VA. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who said his office would look into the complaints of Lejeune families now living in Pennsylvania, said he agrees that Tricare should handle the care. He voted against the Burr proposal in the Veterans Affairs Committee. "It happened in a military installation, so the thinking is that we ought to do it with Tricare, because the veterans' service organizations were all opposed to setting a precedent for overburdening the VA," Mr. Specter said in an interview. Mr. Burr responded by putting a hold on all administration appointees to the Department of the Navy, a procedural roadblock to Senate confirmation. The Marine Corps is a component of the Department of the Navy. "There will not be a nominee that moves through the Senate until this is resolved," Mr. Burr said. Study difficulties In testimony and letters to members of Congress, officials from the Marines and the Navy defend their handling of the problem by pointing out that the key contaminants, PCE and TCE, were not regulated as hazardous chemicals by the EPA until years after the wells were shut down. They also said that studies have not proven a link between the health complaints of those who lived and worked at Lejeune and the chemicals in their water. Indeed, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry concluded in 1997 that there was "no apparent public health hazard" from the contamination. Yet in the face of doubts raised by scientists and in documents released later, the agency last year took the rare step of withdrawing that conclusion. The Associated Press also reported last week that Moon-based engineering services firm Michael Baker Corp. dramatically under-reported the level of benzene contamination in tap water at Lejeune in 1992. The AP report said the company, while under a military contract to study how to remedy the situation, changed previously reported levels of benzene contamination from 380 parts per billion to 38 parts per billion. The company's final report, issued in 1994, made no mention of benzene, which can damage bone marrow, lower red blood cells and cause anemia and leukemia with long-term exposure. A Michael Baker spokesman on Friday referred a request for comment to the Marines. Capt. Brian Block, a Marines spokesman, said that he could not say why Michael Baker changed the numbers -- but he said the 380 parts per billion finding was well known and used by the toxic substances agency. A report released by the National Research Council in June did not find strong evidence to link TCE and PCE exposure to all of the health problems reported by Lejeune veterans. But it did find limited evidence to suggest a connection to various cancers, brain damage and other ailments. Critics have attacked that report for not sufficiently exploring the possible effects of benzene and vinyl chloride. The research council, in its report, said it did not think additional study would turn up more useful information because it would be nearly impossible to confirm the chemicals and their concentrations encountered decades ago by Lejeune veterans and their families. And there are hurdles to tracking causes of death for such a large, widespread population, as the Agency for Toxic Substances has proposed. After refusing for years, the Navy last week agreed to fund a $1.5 million mortality study of Marines and their families who were at Lejeune during the period in question. But it continues to withhold funding for a public health study that North Carolina legislators and others have sought. "These studies are the key to helping these families find the answers they need and they deserve," said Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C. "We cannot leave these families with mounting medical problems and half-answers." Lasting effects One answer the agency did provide in a 1998 study was a link between exposure to Lejeune water and "adverse pregnancy outcomes." After reading that study a couple of years later, Peggy Price, 52, of Plum, said she re-examined her family's health history. Ms. Price, who worked at Camp Lejeune as an intelligence officer in 1983-84, later had a brain tumor removed as well as several ovarian cysts. All of her four children -- she was pregnant with the first while serving on base -- have had significant health problems, from a rare cancer in the oldest to a developmental disorder in the youngest. She said she found a community on The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten and quickly realized she was one of the lucky ones. Through her husband, a retired Marine, she has access to Tricare. "The women female veterans feel it more, that their kids have the problems, that they feel the blame -- it's their fault," Ms. Price said. "There are people who have it so much worse, and I'm like, 'What am I whining about?' " One of the people Ms. Price found through the site is Mr. Armstrong. He said he goes through chemotherapy every eight weeks, has undergone electric shock therapy to relieve often-debilitating pain and takes a slew of medications. He can't go hunting or camping with his family anymore. "You feel like a walking train wreck," he said. Mr. Armstrong has retained the pride of the Marine Corps corporal he once was, but he said it's mixed with revulsion for top commanders who, in his eyes, are not owning up to the legacy of Lejeune. "Once you're a part of [the Corps], it's something you can't describe, the pride that you feel," Mr. Armstrong said. "And after this came all to light, you just feel absolutely betrayed. You feel like you've been shuffled aside and you've been betrayed." Daniel Malloy: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 202-445-9980. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|