Washington, DC - U.S. Congressmen Bart Stupak (D-MI), John Dingell (D-MI) and Brad Miller (D-NC) have called on the U.S. Navy to fulfill obligations to military and civilian personnel who have suffered from water contamination at the Marine Base at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.  Stupak, Dingell and Miller were joined by 25 other members of Congress in urging Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to address the health problems exhibited by former Camp Lejeune personnel and their families.

“These men and women have served our nation with honor and they deserve better from their government,” Stupak said.  “The Navy has studied this long enough and should begin establishing a way to provide care for the people they determine have been harmed by the contaminated water.  The American people, military and civilian alike, expect their government to be accountable and responsive, especially when the government itself is at fault.  I encourage Secretary Mabus to act swiftly and responsibly to deal with the health issues that have resulted from contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.”

“Marines and their families were exposed to a toxic soup of chemicals in their drinking water at Camp Lejeune for almost thirty years. The Department of the Navy should stop quibbling over whether some of the Marines and their family members would have gotten sick anyway and take responsibility for the toxic exposure,” Miller said.

“Our nation made a promise to these men,” Dingell said.  “What does it say that when soldiers look to us for help they’ve earned and bureaucrats hide behind technicalities searching for ways to turn them down?  We’ve investigated that water down there and we know it was poisonous.  We know what we need to know.  It is time do the right thing and support those veterans of Camp Lejeune who are fighting for their lives.”

In addition to calling on the Navy to fulfill obligations to military personnel affected by contaminated water, the letter also encourages the Navy to continue funding health studies conducted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).  Previous and ongoing studies by ATSDR are helping to determine levels of toxic chemicals personnel were exposed to through the water systems at Camp Lejeune. 

In the early 1980s volatile organic compounds such as Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were detected in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune.  In certain cases the contamination was as high as 280 times what is currently regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act.  Excessive exposure to these chemicals has the potential to cause cancer, liver damage, birth defects and leukemia.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health and the International Agency for Research on Cancer assert that a number of the volatile organic compounds found in the water supply at Camp Lejeune are likely human carcinogens. 

While additional ATSDR studies are important to expanding the understanding of the health effects from contaminated water suffered by those living on the base, the letter argues they should not serve to delay the establishment of an action plan to assist the known victims of exposure to the contaminated water.

The letter also requests answers to the following two questions from the Navy:

1.    How many more studies does the Department of Navy plan on commissioning before developing a strategy to address the health effects of exposure to contaminated drinking water, once the current studies proposed, or in progress, by ATSDR are complete?

2.    By what date can our men and women in uniform, who so valiantly served the United States, anticipate an answer from the Department of Navy about how their and their families’ health issues resulting from exposure to contaminants will be addressed?

As chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Congressman Stupak held a hearing in June 2007 highlighting the issues and questions surrounding contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune. 

A copy of the letter to Secretary Mabus can be found at http://www.house.gov/stupak/stupak_camp-lejeune102609.pdf