For at least 35 years, people who lived and worked on Camp Lejeune were drinking dangerously contaminated water.
The chemicals came from leaking fuel tanks, an off-base dry cleaning business and quite possibly other sources as well.
Ingestion of those substances is dangerous and can produce a host of severe illnesses, including leukemia, aplastic anemias, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease.
And indeed, thousands of former service members and base civilians have developed those illnesses and others that may be related to the water contamination.
Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said last week that at least 4,400 claims totaling $963 billion have been filed.
That’s astonishing and deeply disappointing, although certainly without precedent.
But those are certainly not the only ones that medical research has connected with longterm ingestion of those chemicals —and civilian employees and service members’ families were exposed as well.
Spencer may be right that law limits federal liability for the illnesses.
A North Carolina law puts a 10-year statute of limitations on such cases, a federal law limits government liability unless actual negligence is found, and a Supreme Court decision rules that the federal government isn’t liable for injuries to military members hurt while on duty.
And Congress needs to act as well, providing relief for the thousands of Marines, civilians and families whose lives were tragically disrupted because the government failed to adequately test the water on Camp Lejeune for safety.

There were 30 wells that tested positive for trichloroethylene (TCE) but were within the maximum contamination level (MCL).
His well was tested by the DNR.
"They came out on Nov. 19," Kennell says.
Kennell was notified by the DNR, his well tested positive for TCE.
However, the levels were below the MCL.
They also had their well tested.
Hansen says he is thankful Fantastic Caverns made the community aware of this problem in Nov. High levels of TCE were found in parts of the cave.
The DNR has been working with the former Litton facility on Kearney St. since 1979.
From 2004-2005 they tested 70 wells in the area for TCE.
14 wells tested positive for TCE then but only one had levels higher than the MCL.

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown officials say they are speaking with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who are cleaning up a superfund site in Cinnaminson in an effort to determine if it is the origin of the township’s ongoing water issues.
The EPA is currently working on the cleanup of a superfund site that covers about 400 acres of land in Cinnaminson and Delran, according to the EPA’s website.
The township has been dealing with trichloroethylene (TCE), as well as trichloropropane 123 (1,2,3, TCP) contamination in the drinking water since 2013.
At the Moorestown Council meeting on Sept. 24, Councilman Mike Locatell said the township was looking into the possibility that TCP 123 originated from the site, but township officials have since said that is not the focus of the negotiations.
Petriello asked.
Petriello said that the drinking water has been an issue in Moorestown for several years.
Resident Mike Babcock has asked council several times during that time to investigate the source of the contamination.
He had asked for an RFQ to go out to hire someone to investigate the source of the contamination, saying the RFQ wouldn’t cost township taxpayers anything, but it was important to find those responsible and recover money the township has lost.
"Just because you tell other council members doesn’t mean the information is going out," Petriello said.
Locatell said.

More than 100 Brighton homes will be tested for the cancer-causing chemical trichloroethylene (TCE), according to state officials.
The toxic chemical was found in the air of five homes in the neighborhood directly north of Brighton High School, and officials say more could be affected.
Rebecca Taylor from MDEQ says that the department detected no air issues at Brighton High School or Creative Kids Daycare.
According to the CDC, "it is used mainly as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts, but it is also an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids, and spot removers."
The contamination originated from manufacturing chemicals seeping into groundwater.
The source of the first plume, the defunct metal finishing manufacturing company Detroit Gaskets, polluted soil and groundwater with the chemical from the late 1940s to the early 1980s.
The source of the second plume is Haigh Manufacturing, which released the chemical into the ground in the 1960s and 70s.
Officials have been monitoring the plumes as a water issue since the early 1990s, when it was first detected.
But last year was the first time any air tests had been conducted related to the plumes.
Other serious health problems are also a concern, and the chemical can harm unborn babies.

The toxic chemical compound used in manufacturing has made its way into the air inside at least five Brighton homes, state and county officials say.
And more homes could be affected.
Szpond’s home on South Seventh Street is one of 17 homes in her neighborhood that had been tested for trichloroethylene vapors by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, so far.
Rebecca Taylor of the MDEQ said she has identified about 40 homes within Brighton city limits and in Genoa Township that should have indoor air tested for trichloroethylene vapors.
The air inside Brighton High School has been tested and it’s fine, Taylor said.
In 2008, a groundwater treatment system was installed north of the high school to capture the plume.
However, the state had never tested air inside residences for the chemical until last year.
Boland said the health department back in the 1990s was very concerned by well water contamination.
"Residents were tied into the city water and then there was no more drinking water exposure to that chemical, at least, but more recent studies are concerned with breathing the air.
The contamination can go through the soil and up into people’s home," he said.

As the water flows down the hill, it flows over and around rocks, over the ridges of the corrugated plastic and runs off each trough to the next, all of which add air to help evaporate the TCE, according to MDNR.
MDNR PHOTO By Lake Sun staff, newsroom@lakesunonline.com In a trust-building exercise that appears to have been a positive step forward, the City of Camdenton water supply has been tested by the state and found free of any volatile organic compounds.
While historical data of annual testing of municipal drinking water wells dating back to 1997 show Camdenton’s water to meet safe drinking water standards, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the city agreed to have MDNR staff collect the 2018 annual samples earlier this year.
Normally the municipality collects the water itself in April and sends samples in to MDNR for testing and results.
Distrust of the city in regards to the municipal water system and contamination dates to the initial discovery of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the Mulberry Well in the 1990s when there was a lack of communication from the city with the public on what was going on.
Show more… Now, according to the recent and past test results, the three city wells currently in use have not been contaminated by the improperly dumped TCE waste.
City water was tested for several compounds, all of which came at a non-measurable rate.
Long-term exposure can cause potential effects to the immune system and potential increased risk for certain cancers such as kidney, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and liver, according to MDNR.
Many former works at the manufacturing facility and residents in the vicinity believe some deaths can be attributed to TCE exposure, though a direct connection is difficult to prove in circumstances like these.
Manufacturing was done at this location from at least 1967 to 2012 by first Dawson Metal Products, Sundstrand Tubular Products Inc. and Modine Heat Transfer Inc. Past investigations revealed contamination at the facility with TCE levels above maximum levels set by the EPA.

Madison Water Utility plans to drill a “sentinel” well that would provide an early warning in case a toxic underground plume from Madison-Kipp Corp. moves any closer to an East Side drinking water well.
There are some indications that the toxins may no longer be spreading in that direction, but the water utility doesn’t want to take any chances, said general manager Tom Heikkinen said Friday.
With state Department of Natural Resources oversight, the company has spent millions of dollars removing contaminated soil, monitoring ground water and checking for toxic vapors that can escape from shallow parts of the water table.
But the DNR hasn’t directed Madison-Kipp to pay for about $32,000 in consulting studies commissioned by the water utility or for the expected $100,000 sentinel well. Water utility and DNR officials have discussed whether Madison-Kipp should pay.
A consultant hired by Madison-Kipp said several years ago that the plume seems to have stopped spreading toward Well 8, but an independent expert hired by the water utility to confirm the conclusion reported in 2015 that the company study wasn’t thorough enough.
Preliminary indications are that the plume’s southern edge may have stabilized based on a Madison-Kipp well 600 feet north of the Well 8 that has at times detected very low concentrations of toxins, much lower than monitoring wells closer to the plant, DeMorett said.
The 6-inch hole was drilled as an exploratory well before the 30-inch in diameter production hole was drilled in 1945.
The plume carries another VOC, trichloroethylene, or TCE, a solvent associated with health hazards that include cardiac birth defects in children whose mothers exposed to the compound relatively briefly.

‘Clean water is a right’ — Citizens protest TCE contamination.
The protest was organized in response to the release of a 1999 Combined Preliminary Assessment / Site Inspection Report with supporting documentation released by MDNR in late May 2017.
Armed with homemade signs and the undeniable First Amendment right to gather peacefully in protest, citizens of Camden County flocked to the downtown square in Camdenton Monday evening for a public demonstration designed to bring awareness to the ongoing chemical contamination affecting residents.
The protest was organized by the Camden County Contamination Board, a public Facebook group that has grown to more than 1,100 members in the last three months.
The lagoon and well no longer serve the city.
Approximately 30 citizens of all ages filtered in and out of the July 3, 2017, demonstration that lasted from 5-7 p.m. in front of the Camden County Courthouse.
Protest signs, carried by both young and old, were aimed at Camdenton City Hall as well as the state and federal governments.
Because some citizens were protesting water and air quality unrelated to the manufacturing facility, the fact that the demonstration was held at the courthouse within city limits was an appropriate location.
“Clean water is a right!” a young man yelled.
“Clean water is a right!”

VANPORT TWP. — Multimedia conglomerate CBS is refusing to pay for research conducted by the state Department of Environmental Protection that will determine the extent of potential groundwater contamination in Vanport Township and has called the agency’s response “unreasonable and unnecessary.” Officials continue to maintain that the 10,000 customers who get their water from the Vanport Township Municipal Authority have no reason to fear their water is contaminated. Times Today: CBS, DEP debate Vanport water contamination responsibility 00:00 00:00 spaceplay / pause qunload | stop ffullscreen ↑↓volume mmute ←→seek . seek to previous 12… 6 seek to 10%, 20% … 60% Despite that, decades of industrial contamination has resulted in the chemical trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent that has been linked to birth defects and a laundry list of other health problems, being found in test wells in the area. The department has initiated an extensive and expensive response in the area behind the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe and the McDonald’s on Third Street. The response includes eight different action items, including thorough testing of water, soil and pump treatment systems to determine the threat to Vanport’s drinking water. Because of elevated levels being found…

Groundwater contamination spurs $139,000 increase to east side water main project.
GOSHEN — Goshen Board of Public Works and Safety members Monday approved a $139,000 contract increase with HRP Construction needed to remedy groundwater contamination concerns related to a water main replacement project along Monroe Street on the city’s east side.
According to Sailor, the Monroe Street portion of the project, which got started in early March, needed some significant modification due to recent word from Goshen Brownfield Coordinator Becky Hershberger that groundwater contamination from the former Johnson Controls industrial site, 1302 E. Monroe St., had been found in the path of the Monroe Street portion of the project.
Sailor said the contamination was in the form of trichloroethylene (TCE), which can migrate through the traditional gaskets and plastic piping the city normally uses for such water main projects.
During Monday’s meeting, Sailor informed the board that HRP Construction has completed installation of the upgraded Viton gaskets and copper piping, with the total cost of the upgrade coming to $139,281.
However, Sailor noted that his office has been in contact with Johnson Controls about the contamination issue, and the company has agreed to reimburse the city for the increased project cost.
So we’re just asking for this to be approved by the board so that we can pay the contractor.” The request was approved unanimously.
Johnson Controls operated the plant at 1302 E. Monroe St. from 1937 to 2007.
The suit alleges Tocon has not remediated the pollution.
• Approved temporary closure of the Cottage Avenue railroad crossing from May 22 through May 25 to allow for continued work on the city’s Logan Street, Monroe Street and Cottage Avenue water main replacement project.