Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Camp Lejeune Tragedy
Unfortunately, not all Americans get the word that their water
could be dangerous and even deadly until too late. Tens of thou-
sands of U.S. Marines, former Marines, and their families were
exposed to contaminated drinking water, not in far-off realms,
but at home. This happened at the Tarawa Terrace family housing
complex at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, from November 1957
through February 1987. The drinking water was contaminated with
the dry-cleaning solvent PCE (tetrachloroethylene), a possible car-
cinogen that may cause cancer and birth defects. Although the
military base shut down the Tarawa Terrace water treatment plant
in 1987 “because of PCE contamination of the drinking water,” gov-
ernment studies of possible ill effects of the water on the Marines
and their families are relatively recent. In June 2007, federal health
investigators reported:
A new analysis shows that former Marines and their families
who lived in Tarawa Terrace family housing units during the
period November 1957 through February 1987 received con-
taminated drinking water containing the dry-cleaning solvent
tetrachloroethylene (PCE). Levels of PCE in the drinking water
during this period exceeded the amount currently allowed by the
Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water
Act. Exposure to PCE-contaminated drinking water occurred be-
cause PCE leaked into groundwater that supplied the Tarawa
Terrace drinking water system from a dry cleaner located outside
the Camp Lejeune military base.
Today, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,
an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
maintains a Camp Lejeune information site on their web site.
(http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/events.html).
10
The Agriculture Factor in the Pollution Equation
Agricultural irrigation, as we mentioned earlier in this chapter, can
contribute to groundwater pollution problems. As excess water runs
