From the 1970s through 1987, Hadnot Point, Tarawa Terrace, and  Holcomb Boulevard water systems provided drinking water to most of  Camp Lejeune’s housing areas. Department of the Navy Environmental Functions

Certain Navy entities provide support functions for Marine Corps bases  such as Camp Lejeune. Based on environmental  contamination at various areas on the base, Camp Lejeune was designated  as a National Priorities List site in 1989. However, ATSDR officials said they are reanalyzing the findings of this  study because of an error in the original assessment of exposure to VOCs  in drinking water. 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. 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 1982  and 1983, water monitoring for TTHMs by a laboratory contracted by  Camp Lejeune led to the identification of TCE and PCE as the  contaminants in two water systems at Camp Lejeune. In 1984 and 1985, the NACIP 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. As a result, those 5 wells were removed from service. 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. Since fiscal year 2003, funding for  ATSDR’s Camp Lejeune-related work has been provided by the Marine  Corps. Provision of Information to ATSDR by DOD

ATSDR has experienced some difficulties obtaining information from  Camp Lejeune and DOD officials. Officials said that while funding and access to records were probably  slowed down and made more expensive by DOD officials’ actions, their  actions did not significantly impede ATSDR’s health study efforts. The  ATSDR officials also stated that while issues such as limitations in access  to DOD data had to be addressed, such situations are normal during the  course of a study. Experts Convened by NAS Generally Agreed That Many Parameters of ATSDR’s Current Study Were Appropriate

The seven members of an expert panel convened by 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. The current study follows recommendations from the agency’s  1997 public health assessment of Camp Lejeune, which noted that studies  of cancer among those who were exposed in utero should be conducted to  further the understanding of the health effects in this susceptible  population. Two panel experts said that  ATSDR had limited its study to health effects that are rare and that  generally occur at higher levels of exposure to VOCs such as TCE and PCE  than are expected to have occurred at Camp Lejeune. Of  the five panel experts who commented on the proposed completion date,  three said that the date appeared reasonable, and two others said that  based on the complexity of the water modeling the projected completion  date might be optimistic. oth natural processes and human activities. The Department  of Health and Human Services (HHS) has determined that enzene is a known carcinogen.
Why GAO Did This Study

In the early 1980s, volatile organic compounds (VOC) 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. Since 1991, the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has been examining whether individuals who were exposed to the contaminated drinking water are likely to have adverse health effects. ATSDR's current study is examining whether individuals who were exposed in utero are more likely to have developed certain childhood cancers or birth defects. GAO was asked to testify on its May 11, 2007 report: Defense Health Care: Activities Related to Past Drinking Water Contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (GAO-07-276). This testimony summarizes findings from the report about (1) efforts to identify and address the past drinking water contamination, (2) the provision of funding and information from the Department of Defense (DOD) to ATSDR, and (3) an assessment of the design of the current ATSDR study. GAO reviewed documents, interviewed officials and former residents, and contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to convene an expert panel to assess 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. 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. Since ATSDR began its Camp Lejeune-related work in 1991, the agency has not always received requested funding and has experienced delays in receiving information from DOD. However, ATSDR officials said that while funding and access to records were probably slowed down and made more expensive by DOD officials' actions, their actions did not significantly impede ATSDR's Camp Lejeune-related health study efforts. The ATSDR officials also stated that while issues such as limitations in access to DOD data had to be addressed, such situations are normal during the course of a study. Members of the expert panel that the National Academy of Sciences convened for GAO 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. Regarding the study's proposed completion date of December 2007, the panel experts had mixed opinions: three of the five panel experts who commented said that the projected date appeared reasonable, while two said that the date might be optimistic. DOD, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services provided technical comments on a draft of the May 11, 2007 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 the report.