MSNBC aired “Semper Fi” a special about polluted water reservoirs in Camp LeJune, North Carolina – a marine base on Friday night (2/24/12). The Marine Corps (or at least the Officers in Camp LeJune) all knew about it, they were warned after the water was tested by an outside laboratory (as required) back in 1982. Yet they said nothing. Now people are coming forward with a myriad of health complaints – many children died.

Approximately 75,000 Marines families at Camp LeJeune were exposed to toxic tap water that has been linked to cancer and birth defects.

The water supply was polluted from 1957 until 1987 by TCE, a degreasing solvent, and PCE, a dry cleaning agent. The chemicals apparently came from a dry cleaning store near the base, and the substances are considered carcinogens.

Federal regulators set the maximum allowable amount at 5 micrograms of PCE per liter back in 1992, but residents at Camp LeJeune were exposed to 70 micrograms of PCE per liter, with the highest levels around 200 micrograms per liter.

The contamination was found in 1982 in several wells that fed two of the base’s eight water systems, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency. Why the Marine’s did nothing is still being investigated.

One thing I found interesting about the expose on MSNBC, is the fact that the scientist kept referring to the toxic substances as VOC’s – If you remember, that is same terminology used by scientist when describing the chemical compounds in the run-off from FRACKING. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds.

If we cannot trust the United States Marine Corp to protect their Marine Families, why do we think Big Oil will protect us against the dangers of Fracking? Not when it’s so profitable for them, but offers little relief to America at large.

Even more dangerous is the XL Pipeline that some are trying to push through Congress…tar sands contain some of the most toxic compounds known to man. It has a consistency of peanut butter mixed with sand and is very abrasive…many sections of the pipeline have already been compromised by cracks and fissures in the pipe. And the route runs across the largest water reservoirs in America’s bread bowl…people depend on this for drinking and agriculture! This is a time bomb just waiting to happen.

But that’s another issue, for another day, lol.

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/background.html