Landmark Cancer Study Shows Impact Of Toxic Drinking Water At Camp LeJeune

Learn More About The Research From A Federal Public Health Agency.

Retired Marine Jerry Ensminger (left), Erin Brockovich (middle), Mike Partain, born at Camp Lejuene (right) advocating for those impacted by the toxic drinking water.

Once again, the science is in, confirming what advocates have been saying for years.

One of the largest cancer incidence cohort studies in the U.S. just came out, and it shows alarming rates of cancer for civilian and military personnel who lived and worked at North Carolina’s Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, considered one of the worst toxic sites in the United States.

I hope all who have suffered feel a sense of validation. For those who have lost loved ones due to this terrible pollution, my heart goes out to you. No words can replace what you have lost.

Located in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Camp Lejeune is the largest Marine base on the East Coast, and for decades, an estimated one million servicemen and women, their families. and civilian workers were exposed to tap water containing toxic chemicals known to cause cancer.

The study was conducted by a federal public health agency, the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). It’s one of the largest studies of its kind, having pulled data from cancer registries in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Pacific Islands, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The purpose of the study was to determine if being stationed or employed at Camp Lejeune between 1972 and 1985 increased the risk of cancer incidence when compared to being stationed or employed at Camp Pendleton in California. Camp Pendleton was not known to have contaminated drinking water prior to 1986. (Sadly, more than 700 U.S. military installations are now contaminated with PFAS chemicals.)

The new ATSDR study shows that those who lived and worked at the North Carolina base had at least a 20 percent higher risk for several cancers compared to those stationed elsewhere drinking uncontaminated water.

In fact, researchers found:

• An increased risk for some types of leukemia and lymphoma, as well as for cancers of the lung, breast, larynx, esophagus, thyroid, and soft tissues in Marines and Navy personnel.

• Among civilian workers, increased risk was observed for myeloid cancers and some cancers of the breast and lung.

“These alarming cancer findings will keep me up at night,” said Jared Hayes, a senior policy analyst at the Environmental Working Group in a statement. “The shocking rates of cancer among service members and civilians, a direct consequence of exposure to harmful chemicals on military bases, is nothing short of an outrage. It's an appalling situation where service members and civilians are now grappling with illness as payment for their dedication to duty.”

Camp Lejeune closed most of the contaminated water wells in 1985—that’s 5 years after they first discovered the pollution. Documents uncovered by advocates suggest that leadership was slow to respond when water tests showed evidence of contamination. The base was declared a Superfund site in 1989, but it took another 24 years with help from Congress to inform veterans and their families about the contamination and its health risks.

Jerry Ensminger, a retired Marine, has been the face of this case in Washington, D.C., for more than 20 years, pushing for legislation that could help affected military personnel, veterans, their families, and civilians.

Jerry had four children, all born during his military career, but his daughter Janey would change the trajectory of his life. Janey was the only child who was conceived, carried, and born while his family lived at Camp Lejeune. In 1983, she was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL, which is the most common type of childhood cancer. Each year in the U.S. about 3,000 children are diagnosed with ALL.

Janey died on September 24, 1985, at the age of 9. Like any parent, Jerry was grief-stricken, but he couldn’t shake the nagging question “Why?” He researched both sides of his and Janey’s mother’s family for a history of childhood leukemia and not one case existed. He didn’t understand how this unspeakable tragedy had hit his family. The American Cancer Society states on its website that most childhood leukemias are not linked to any known genetic causes.

He found an answer in 1997, more than 10 years after he lost his daughter. Jerry, who was now retired and living in North Carolina, was making himself dinner while watching the local news when the television reporter said, “The contaminants found in the water at Camp Lejeune have been linked in scientific literature to birth defects and childhood cancers.”

Jerry dropped his plate of food and said it felt like someone had just hit him on the head with a two-by-four. The ATSDR completed a public health assessment (PHA) of drinking water at the base and concluded that the people living and working at the base were exposed to “contaminants of concern” in their drinking water from 1953 through 1987.

These chemicals included trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), dichloroethylene (DCE), vinyl chloride, and benzene.

His advocacy work began, as did countless trips to Washington D.C.

He said in a 2012 interview with C-SPAN that many of the people he spoke with acted as if the contamination was not a big deal, saying, “Oh, ATSDR doesn’t know what they’re talking about, these were very minute, trace amounts of these chemicals. You shouldn’t have any reason to believe that this is what caused your daughter’s illness.”

He tried to maintain faith and confidence that the Marine Corps he had served for nearly a quarter of a century of his life would do what was right.

“As time went on, I started to realize that not only were they not doing what was right by their people, they were doing everything they could to do what was wrong,” he said. “They were omitting facts. They told many, many half-truths and total lies. I’m polite to a point but whenever I feel that someone is giving me lip service, well then the gloves come off.”

The Marine Corps said that the contamination happened before the days of stringent environmental regulations, notification requirements did not exist back then, and the water quality on the base was comparable to that of municipal water systems during that time.

After much hard work, The Janey Ensminger Act, was signed into law by former President Barack Obama, offering affected veterans and family members extended health care and medical services for disorders that may have been caused by exposure to toxic chemicals in Camp Lejeune drinking water.

Mike Partain, who was born and raised at Camp Lejeune, lived in the same housing complex as Jerry and his family. Both his father and grandfather were marines. Mike joined the navy but was later discharged due to a debilitating and unexplained full-body rash.

He eventually moved to Florida, got married, and had four children. He was diagnosed with male breast cancer at the age of 39, despite lacking any genetic markers for the disease. Breast cancer in men is rare, making up less than 1 percent of all cases of the disease. Yet, hundreds of men who lived or worked at the base during the time of the contamination have been diagnosed with it.

Mike became aware of the toxic water where he grew up when he saw Jerry on the news, testifying at a congressional hearing in 2007. It’s a testament to how one person really can make a difference for so many others.

Mike soon joined forces with Jerry, reaching out to him after he saw him on television. He wanted to learn more about the contamination and how he could help, which led to many late nights working determinedly to find other men who had been diagnosed with breast cancer by posting on breast cancer websites and working with local and national media.

He also created a timeline of events linked to public records and navy and Marine Corps documents. The timeline became one of the most important weapons in uncovering the truth of what happened at Camp Lejeune.

I’m grateful to both of them for using their voices and continuing to speak out on this issue.

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To learn more about the contamination at Camp Lejeune, read some of our other stories:

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Do you have more questions or things to say about Camp Lejeune? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments below.