Report on Marines' water omitted cancer chemical

[cal04]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100217/ap_on_re_us/us_toxic_tap_water

An environmental contractor dramatically underreported the level of a cancer-causing chemical found in tap water at Camp Lejeune, then omitted it altogether as the Marine base prepared for a federal health review, an Associated Press review has found.

The Marine Corps had been warned nearly a decade earlier about the dangerously high levels of benzene, which was traced to massive leaks from fuel tanks at the base on the North Carolina coast, according to recently disclosed studies.

For years, Marines who served at Camp Lejeune have blamed their families' cancers and other ailments on tap water tainted by dry cleaning solvents, and many accuse the military of covering it up. The benzene was discovered as part of a broader, ongoing probe into that contamination.

When water was sampled in July 1984, scientists found benzene in a well near the base's Hadnot Point Fuel Farm at levels of 380 parts per billion, according to a water tests done by a contractor. A year later, in a report summarizing the 1984 sampling, the same contractor pointed out the benzene concentration "far exceeds" the safety limit set by federal regulators at 5 parts per billion.


Danger of Marines’ water removed from report
Cancer-causing chemical in tap water widely underreported, review says
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35445439/ns/health-cancer/

Marine base's ex-residents, many ill, only now learning of toxic water
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/84454.html

[louis-t]

1. Ah, the reagan era. When big industry could

kill with impunity. That's how repukes "support the troops".