thedrifter
05-24-09, 07:21 AM
May 24, 2009
Marines hope for action in cancer fight
Report that Camp Lajeune water didn't increase risk pulled
By Patti Zarling
pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com
Two local Marines with cancer praised a federal health agency's withdrawal of a 1997 report that said contaminated water at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune didn't increase tumor risks in adults.
They hope it will lead to government action.
"It's been a long fight," said Allen Menard, 46, of Green Bay who believes his mycosis fungoides, a rare incurable form of skin cancer, came from drinking and bathing in toxic water at the camp in the early 1980s. "We keep finding more and more stuff as the days go by. It gives me hope."
The Marines estimate 500,000 people may have been exposed to toxic water over 30 years before the bad wells were closed in 1987.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry withdrew a 1997 assessment of health effects from water contamination, saying some scientific information was left out of reports.
At the time of the report, the agency thought a well containing the cancer-causing chemical benzene had been closed, so it wasn't included in the study, according to CDC spokeswoman Bernadette Burden.
"After we published the study, we learned that wasn't the case and it had been used to feed the water system," she said. "Without that information, it throws the whole model off."
Menard said the statement validates veterans' concerns. He's part of a CDC community advisory panel working on follow-up to Camp Lejeune water issues.
"Hopefully they'll get it right this time," said Menard, whose cancer is in remission. "Now they've got scientists telling them this is cancer."
Jack Handrick, 48, of Allouez, believes he, too, became sick from Camp Lejeune water. He was stationed there from 1981-83.
"I've always believed it may have had something to do with my cancer," he said. He was diagnosed with condra sarcoma, a soft tissue cancer, and had a five-pound tumor removed from his pelvis in 2001. "People can look at this and say, 'You've got cancer in your family.' Well, yeah, my dad had cancer, but he was in his 60s. How many 40-year-old men get cancer?"
The military supports the new water studies, said 1st Lt. Brian Block of the Marine Corps Public Affairs Office.
"Our primary concern is using the best science possible to get to the bottom of it," he said. "Once we get these reports back, we can move to the next step."
Federal officials have connected problems to a solvent used to clean metal and a chemical used in dry cleaning first found in Camp Lejeune's drinking water in the early 1980s.
Polluted wells were shut down in 1985 and the camp was named a federal Superfund cleanup site in 1989.
Contamination came from two sources, according to the agency's Web site: ABC One-Hour Cleaners, a nearby dry-cleaning facility, and a combination of the effects of industrial operations, past waste-water disposal standards and practices and leaking underground storage tanks.
Burden said the agency could have results of new water modeling next summer.
Both Menard and Handrick learned of concerns about the water when they received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service in October 2008 saying the Marines were trying to contact them because of possible contamination.
Handrick said his goal is for the government to help cover medical bills.
"The biggest thing we're all trying to get is benefits," Handrick said. "We're just trying to survive."
Menard agreed. "I want them to take care of anything medical now or that may come up in the future … I'm basically a ticking time bomb. This is what I've got to live with for the rest of my life.
"But now I've got a ray of hope this will hopefully come to a head."
Ellie
Marines hope for action in cancer fight
Report that Camp Lajeune water didn't increase risk pulled
By Patti Zarling
pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com
Two local Marines with cancer praised a federal health agency's withdrawal of a 1997 report that said contaminated water at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune didn't increase tumor risks in adults.
They hope it will lead to government action.
"It's been a long fight," said Allen Menard, 46, of Green Bay who believes his mycosis fungoides, a rare incurable form of skin cancer, came from drinking and bathing in toxic water at the camp in the early 1980s. "We keep finding more and more stuff as the days go by. It gives me hope."
The Marines estimate 500,000 people may have been exposed to toxic water over 30 years before the bad wells were closed in 1987.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry withdrew a 1997 assessment of health effects from water contamination, saying some scientific information was left out of reports.
At the time of the report, the agency thought a well containing the cancer-causing chemical benzene had been closed, so it wasn't included in the study, according to CDC spokeswoman Bernadette Burden.
"After we published the study, we learned that wasn't the case and it had been used to feed the water system," she said. "Without that information, it throws the whole model off."
Menard said the statement validates veterans' concerns. He's part of a CDC community advisory panel working on follow-up to Camp Lejeune water issues.
"Hopefully they'll get it right this time," said Menard, whose cancer is in remission. "Now they've got scientists telling them this is cancer."
Jack Handrick, 48, of Allouez, believes he, too, became sick from Camp Lejeune water. He was stationed there from 1981-83.
"I've always believed it may have had something to do with my cancer," he said. He was diagnosed with condra sarcoma, a soft tissue cancer, and had a five-pound tumor removed from his pelvis in 2001. "People can look at this and say, 'You've got cancer in your family.' Well, yeah, my dad had cancer, but he was in his 60s. How many 40-year-old men get cancer?"
The military supports the new water studies, said 1st Lt. Brian Block of the Marine Corps Public Affairs Office.
"Our primary concern is using the best science possible to get to the bottom of it," he said. "Once we get these reports back, we can move to the next step."
Federal officials have connected problems to a solvent used to clean metal and a chemical used in dry cleaning first found in Camp Lejeune's drinking water in the early 1980s.
Polluted wells were shut down in 1985 and the camp was named a federal Superfund cleanup site in 1989.
Contamination came from two sources, according to the agency's Web site: ABC One-Hour Cleaners, a nearby dry-cleaning facility, and a combination of the effects of industrial operations, past waste-water disposal standards and practices and leaking underground storage tanks.
Burden said the agency could have results of new water modeling next summer.
Both Menard and Handrick learned of concerns about the water when they received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service in October 2008 saying the Marines were trying to contact them because of possible contamination.
Handrick said his goal is for the government to help cover medical bills.
"The biggest thing we're all trying to get is benefits," Handrick said. "We're just trying to survive."
Menard agreed. "I want them to take care of anything medical now or that may come up in the future … I'm basically a ticking time bomb. This is what I've got to live with for the rest of my life.
"But now I've got a ray of hope this will hopefully come to a head."
Ellie