thedrifter
07-12-09, 06:38 AM
Marine spouse awaiting news on Atsugi contamination
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July 11, 2009 - 6:15 PM
AMANDA HICKEY
The Navy Environmental Public Health Center is set to release a new study on the contamination at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, and Jacksonville resident Shelly Parulis cannot wait.
Parulis lived aboard Atsugi from 1995 to 1998 when her husband, now a retired master sergeant, was stationed there with their two children.
The family knew the Shinkampo incinerator was located just outside the base fenceline, but it wasn’t until 1997 that NAF Atsugi told its residents the incinerator could be dangerous to their health, Parulis said.
According to a 1999 statement to the Joint Committee, dioxin levels in the soil at NAF Atsugi were as high as 160 times the Japanese guideline standard of 2 picograms/gram while dioxin levels in the ambient air were as high as 30 times the Japanese guideline of .8 picograms/cubic meter.
Dioxin, which was one of the primary contaminants at Atsugi, is the primary lethal component in Agent Orange.
“There had been some studies and they were monitoring the smoke,” she said. “They had put a document in our records. When my husband got cancer, I pulled that document and started asking lots of questions and it kind of went from there.”
David Parulis was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2006.
“That is when I remembered the paper in our medical records that stated we were exposed to chemicals like dioxin, tetrachloride, benzene, mercury, cadmium and arsenic and I pulled that document,” Parulis said. “There’s no genetic link. In his family, there’s no cancers and he had a type of cancer that usually older men get.”
He was 41 at the time.
Parulis’ children, who are now 25 and 17, have also had health problems since leaving Atsugi. Both children have had benign tumors removed and her daughter has also had thyroid problems.
“They were saying there was a risk but they were saying we weren’t in danger. We trusted (them), you don’t think that the military is going to put your family in harms way or expose your children to toxic chemicals at such a significant rate. You just don’t expect that,” Parulis said.
In March 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice began a lawsuit against the private owner and operator of the incinerator. It was still ongoing in April 2001 when the Japanese government purchased the incinerator for approximately $40 million and dismantled and closed the complex.
“It was a significant enough of a risk for our government to go over and try to end exposure but since then, they didn’t try to do anything (until questions were asked),” Parulis said.
In the last eight years, multiple studies have been conducted on the contamination, including studies by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and the National Research Council.
The epidemiological study soon to be released by the Navy Marine Corps Public Health Center will determine if the incidence of diseases associated with exposure to emissions from the Atsugi incinerators was significantly different for residents of NAF Atsugi when compared to a similar population at Naval Base Yokosuka over the same time period.
Parulis doesn’t hope for compensation. Instead, she wants to spread the word of what happened at Atsugi and hear the Department of the Navy admit they should not have stationed families aboard NAF Atsugi.
“This should never happen again, where the Department of the Navy is fully aware that there is chemical exposure to dependents or military members,” she said, explaining that she hopes Congress will put laws into effect to help those exposed and ensuring proper medical care for those suffering from related illnesses. “It’s not about being compensated. … It’s more about the Department of the Navy owning up to what they did and providing the care that people need.”
To learn more about the contamination at NAF Atsugi, visit Parulis’ Web site http://www.atsugi-incinerator-group.com/
NAF Atsugi contamination
Source: Shinkampo incinerator.
Contaminants: Dioxin, tetrachloride, benzene, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.
Contamination spread by: Air, soil, food.
Dioxin levels: In the soil, Dioxin levels were as high as 160 times the Japanese guideline standard of 2 picograms/gram. Dioxin levels in the ambient air were as high as 30 times the Japanese guideline of .8 picograms/cubic meter.
Time period: 1985 – 2001.
Source — U.S. Navy’s Human Health Risk Assessment of the Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan
Ellie
Comments | Recommend
July 11, 2009 - 6:15 PM
AMANDA HICKEY
The Navy Environmental Public Health Center is set to release a new study on the contamination at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, and Jacksonville resident Shelly Parulis cannot wait.
Parulis lived aboard Atsugi from 1995 to 1998 when her husband, now a retired master sergeant, was stationed there with their two children.
The family knew the Shinkampo incinerator was located just outside the base fenceline, but it wasn’t until 1997 that NAF Atsugi told its residents the incinerator could be dangerous to their health, Parulis said.
According to a 1999 statement to the Joint Committee, dioxin levels in the soil at NAF Atsugi were as high as 160 times the Japanese guideline standard of 2 picograms/gram while dioxin levels in the ambient air were as high as 30 times the Japanese guideline of .8 picograms/cubic meter.
Dioxin, which was one of the primary contaminants at Atsugi, is the primary lethal component in Agent Orange.
“There had been some studies and they were monitoring the smoke,” she said. “They had put a document in our records. When my husband got cancer, I pulled that document and started asking lots of questions and it kind of went from there.”
David Parulis was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2006.
“That is when I remembered the paper in our medical records that stated we were exposed to chemicals like dioxin, tetrachloride, benzene, mercury, cadmium and arsenic and I pulled that document,” Parulis said. “There’s no genetic link. In his family, there’s no cancers and he had a type of cancer that usually older men get.”
He was 41 at the time.
Parulis’ children, who are now 25 and 17, have also had health problems since leaving Atsugi. Both children have had benign tumors removed and her daughter has also had thyroid problems.
“They were saying there was a risk but they were saying we weren’t in danger. We trusted (them), you don’t think that the military is going to put your family in harms way or expose your children to toxic chemicals at such a significant rate. You just don’t expect that,” Parulis said.
In March 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice began a lawsuit against the private owner and operator of the incinerator. It was still ongoing in April 2001 when the Japanese government purchased the incinerator for approximately $40 million and dismantled and closed the complex.
“It was a significant enough of a risk for our government to go over and try to end exposure but since then, they didn’t try to do anything (until questions were asked),” Parulis said.
In the last eight years, multiple studies have been conducted on the contamination, including studies by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and the National Research Council.
The epidemiological study soon to be released by the Navy Marine Corps Public Health Center will determine if the incidence of diseases associated with exposure to emissions from the Atsugi incinerators was significantly different for residents of NAF Atsugi when compared to a similar population at Naval Base Yokosuka over the same time period.
Parulis doesn’t hope for compensation. Instead, she wants to spread the word of what happened at Atsugi and hear the Department of the Navy admit they should not have stationed families aboard NAF Atsugi.
“This should never happen again, where the Department of the Navy is fully aware that there is chemical exposure to dependents or military members,” she said, explaining that she hopes Congress will put laws into effect to help those exposed and ensuring proper medical care for those suffering from related illnesses. “It’s not about being compensated. … It’s more about the Department of the Navy owning up to what they did and providing the care that people need.”
To learn more about the contamination at NAF Atsugi, visit Parulis’ Web site http://www.atsugi-incinerator-group.com/
NAF Atsugi contamination
Source: Shinkampo incinerator.
Contaminants: Dioxin, tetrachloride, benzene, mercury, cadmium and arsenic.
Contamination spread by: Air, soil, food.
Dioxin levels: In the soil, Dioxin levels were as high as 160 times the Japanese guideline standard of 2 picograms/gram. Dioxin levels in the ambient air were as high as 30 times the Japanese guideline of .8 picograms/cubic meter.
Time period: 1985 – 2001.
Source — U.S. Navy’s Human Health Risk Assessment of the Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan
Ellie