[CPEO-MEF] HEALTH, VOCs: Senator reacts to Camp Lejeune (NC) report

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Press Release
Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)
June 16, 2009

HAGAN WANTS A CONCLUSION TO THE ONGOING CAMP LEJEUNE WATER CONTAMINATION 
ISSUE


WASHINGTON, D.C. - US Senator Kay R. Hagan (D-NC) issued the following 
statement reacting to a new National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study on 
water contamination at Camp Lejeune. The study, released Saturday, 
concludes that while there was water contamination at the Jacksonville 
Marine base, additional research is "unlikely to determine conclusively 
whether Camp Lejeune residents were adversely affected by exposure to 
water contaminants." Hagan, a member of the Senate Armed Services 
Committee, has been very active in working to determine whether the Navy 
and Marine Corps should have handled water contamination at Camp Lejeune 
differently.

"The NAS study released Saturday is simply a review of previous 
scientific literature on hydrocarbon solvents, reports on Camp Lejeune 
water contamination, and published epidemiologic and toxicological 
studies," said Hagan. "However, it failed to take into account the 
conclusions of previous epidemiological studies that found an 
association between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) exposures and 
childhood leukemia, and presents some direct contradictions to the EPA's 
maximum containment levels of VOCs in drinking water. Moreover, the NAS 
study barely mentioned benzene and vinyl chloride and severely downplays 
the established links between adverse health effects and exposure to 
VOCs that were present in the water at Camp Lejeune. For these reasons, 
I cannot stand behind the validity of the NAS study. Former personnel 
and residents of Camp Lejeune need closure on this issue and one way to 
help facilitate that is through a hearing in the Armed Services Committee."

The NAS study neglected to address key historical documents, also 
omitted in previous studies, regarding verified high levels of benzene 
found in an operating well on July 6, 1984 in the Hadnot Point water 
system and the 1979 leak of 20,000-30,000 of fuel at the near-by Hadnot 
Point fuel farm.

"The resolution of this issue cannot be held hostage to additional 
scientific studies that may not tell us anything more than we already 
know. The time has come for Congress, the Department of the Navy, and 
the Marine Corps to work together to develop a plan to resolve the 
longstanding issue of water contamination at Camp Lejeune. We already 
know that exposure to VOCs in drinking water is linked to adverse health 
effects," Hagan continued. "While it is important that we allow the 
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to complete its water 
modeling simulation and pending epidemiological studies for personnel 
and residents affected at Camp Lejeune, ongoing work on these 
simulations and studies need not foreclose action by Congress and the 
administration to reach an appropriate resolution."

Last week, Hagan sent a letter to the Navy along with Senator Richard 
Burr (R-NC) asking 14 detailed questions to determine if there was prior 
knowledge of TCE (trichloroethylene), PCE (perchloroethylene), benzene, 
and vinyl chloride in the water supply before the wells were shut down. 
The Navy and Marines Corps have until June 25th to respond. Hagan and 
Burr plan to meet with the Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to address these 
questions and the conclusions of the NAS study before August.


...

For the original press release, see
http://www.hagan.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=195

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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