Efforts to Identify and Address Past Drinking Water Contamination at Camp Lejeune Began in the 1980s and Continue with Long-Term Cleanup and Monitoring

Efforts to identify and address past drinking water contamination at Camp  Lejeune began in the 1980s, when the Navy initiated water testing at Camp  Lejeune. In 1984 and 1985, NACIP, a Navy environmental program, identified VOCs,  including TCE and PCE, in 12 of the wells serving the Hadnot Point and  Tarawa Terrace water systems. Upon investigating the  contamination, DOD and North Carolina officials concluded that both on-  and off-base sources were likely to have caused the contamination in the  Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace water systems. Concerns about Possible Adverse Health Effects and Government Actions Related to the Past Contamination Have Led to Additional Activities

Concerns about possible adverse health effects and government actions  related to the past drinking water contamination have led to additional  activities, including health studies, claims against the federal government,  and federal inquiries. The health assessment  was followed by two studies, one of which was ongoing as of April 2007. Additionally, three federal inquiries into issues related to the  drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune have been conducted, one  by a Marine Corps-chartered panel, one by the EPA OIG, and one by the  EPA CID. An ATSDR official said  the reanalysis may alter the study’s results. The study examines whether individuals born  during 1968 through 1985 to mothers who were exposed to the  contaminated drinking water at any time while they were pregnant and  living at Camp Lejeune were more likely than those who were not exposed  to have neural tube defects, oral cleft defects, or childhood hematopoietic  cancers. Although ATSDR Did Not Always Receive Requested Funding and Experienced Delays in Receiving Information from DOD, Officials Said Their Work Has Not Been Significantly Delayed

Since ATSDR began its Camp Lejeune-related work in 1991, the agency did  not always receive requested funding and experienced delays in receiving  information from DOD entities. The panel focused its review on the 1980 to 1985 time  period. Experts Convened by NAS Generally Agreed That Many Parameters of ATSDR’s Current Study Were Appropriate but Some Experts Suggested Potential Modifications to the Study

The seven members of an expert panel convened by the National Academy  of Sciences (NAS) at our request generally agreed that specific parameters  of ATSDR’s current study were appropriate, including the study  population, the exposure time frame, and the selected health effects. The  expert panel members had mixed opinions on ATSDR’s projected  completion date. Agency Comments

DOD, EPA, and HHS provided technical comments on a draft of this  report, which we incorporated where appropriate. Finally, the three  members raised various other issues, such as compensation and health  benefits for former residents and their families and the need for additional  notification to be provided to former residents regarding the past drinking  water contamination; however, these issues were beyond the scope of this  report. To examine the activities undertaken by ATSDR to study potential health  effects related to the drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune, we  reviewed the agency’s 1997 Public Health Assessment that evaluated the  risks of adverse health effects from exposure to the contaminated drinking  water, as well as released documents regarding ATSDR’s 1998 health study  of the association between exposure to TCE and PCE in drinking water at  Camp Lejeune and a variety of adverse pregnancy outcomes. To assess the design of the current study by ATSDR on the possible health  effects associated with the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune,  including the study population, time frame, health effects, and completion  date, we contracted with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to  convene a 1-day meeting of scientific experts in the areas of drinking  water contamination, hydrologic modeling, and reproductive health. An article was published in the base newspaper explaining that 10 wells that served the  Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point water systems were removed from service because of  contamination. 3. Appendix VII: Description of Current Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Health Study

ATSDR is conducting a study of the potential health effects of exposure  while in utero and as infants up to 1 year of age to trichloroethylene (TCE)  and tetrachloroethylene (PCE)—two volatile organic chemicals found in  drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in the 1980s.
Why GAO Did This Study

In the early 1980s, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were discovered in some of the water systems serving housing areas on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Exposure to certain VOCs may cause adverse health effects, including cancer. In 1999, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) began a study to examine whether individuals who were exposed in utero to the contaminated drinking water are more likely to have developed certain childhood cancers or birth defects. ATSDR has projected a December 2007 completion date for the study. The National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2005 required GAO to report on past drinking water contamination and related health effects at Camp Lejeune. In this report GAO describes (1) efforts to identify and address the past contamination, (2) activities resulting from concerns about possible adverse health effects and government actions related to the past contamination, and (3) the design of the current ATSDR study, including the study's population, time frame, selected health effects, and the reasonableness of the projected completion date. GAO reviewed documents, interviewed officials and former residents, and contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to convene an expert panel to assess the design of the current ATSDR study.

What GAO Found

Efforts to identify and address the past drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune began in the 1980s, when Navy water testing at Camp Lejeune detected VOCs in some base water systems. In 1982 and 1983, continued testing identified two VOCs--trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal degreaser, and tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning solvent--in two water systems that served base housing areas, Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace. In 1984 and 1985 a Navy environmental program identified VOCs, such as TCE and PCE, in some of the individual wells serving the Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace water systems. Ten wells were subsequently removed from service. Department of Defense (DOD) and North Carolina officials concluded that on- and off-base sources were likely to have caused the contamination. It has not been determined when contamination at Hadnot Point began. ATSDR has estimated that well contamination at Tarawa Terrace from an off-base dry cleaner began as early as 1957. Activities related to concerns about possible adverse health effects began in 1991, when ATSDR initiated a public health assessment evaluating the possible health risks from exposure to the contaminated drinking water. The health assessment was followed by two health studies, one of which is ongoing. While ATSDR did not always receive requested funding and experienced delays in receiving information from DOD for its Camp Lejeune-related work, ATSDR officials said this has not significantly delayed their work. Former residents and employees have filed about 750 claims against the federal government. Additionally, three federal inquiries into issues related to the contamination have been conducted--one by a Marine Corps-chartered panel and two by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Members of the expert panel that the National Academy of Sciences convened generally agreed that many parameters of ATSDR's current study are appropriate, including the study population, the exposure time frame, and the selected health effects. ATSDR's study is examining whether individuals who were exposed in utero to the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune between 1968 and 1985 were more likely to have specific birth defects or childhood cancers than those not exposed. DOD, EPA, and HHS provided technical comments on a draft of this report, which GAO incorporated where appropriate. Three members of an ATSDR community assistance panel for Camp Lejeune provided oral comments on issues such as other VOCs that have been detected at Camp Lejeune, and compensation, health benefits, and additional notification for former residents. GAO focused its review on TCE and PCE because they were identified by ATSDR as the chemicals of primary concern. GAO's report notes that other VOCs were detected. GAO incorporated the panel members' comments where appropriate, but some issues were beyond the scope of this report.