Court refuses to hear suit over Camp Lejeune water
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June 8, 2009 - 12:40 PM
AMANDA HICKEY

This story was updated at 4:17 p.m.

The Supreme Court refused to hear a Marine's lawsuit blaming the government's dumping of toxic chemicals at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for his son's illnesses Monday.

The high court declined to hear an appeal by Donal McLean Snyder Jr. of the lower courts' dismissal of his lawsuit, according to the Associated Press.

Snyder and his wife, Pam, were stationed at Camp Lejeune from March through December 1970, according to court documents for case number 08-0894, Snyder v. United States. Their son, Donal McLean Snyder III, was born in January 1971 and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. In July 1971, the family returned to Lejeune where they stayed until October 1972.

In 2004, the Snyders filed an action against the United States alleging that Camp Lejeune's water system was contaminated with the chemicals trichloroethylene and tetracholoroethylene because military personnel had used degreasing agents to clean tanks and weapons on base, according to court documents. They claimed that the chemicals were disposed of in barrels and directly onto the ground and the chemicals seeped into the soil and migrated to the water supply.

They claimed that Pam Snyder consumed Camp Lejeune water while pregnant and was exposed to the chemicals, which caused their son's heart defect.

However, the couple did not live aboard Camp Lejeune, according to court documents.

The lower courts said trichloroethylene was not regulated as a dangerous substance until the late 1970s. Because of that, the government cannot be faulted for the dumping at Camp Lejeune while Snyder's wife was living there and pregnant with their son.

The unpublished decision, however, will not set a precedent.

"It was an ill prepared case and, basically, I agree with the court decision on it. The claimants in the case admitted that they never lived on the base," said Jerry Ensminger, a retired Marine whose daughter died of leukemia at the age of 9 after in utero exposure to the contaminated water.

Two major drinking water systems at Camp Lejeune were contaminated from at least the mid-1950s until 1987. The chemicals, including trichloroethylene and tetracholoroethylene, came from spills, a dumpsite on base, leaking underground storage tanks on base and an off-base dry cleaner.



The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Amanda Hickey at 910-219-8461 or ahickey@freedomenc.com. Read the Lejeune Deployed blog at http://lejeunedeployed.freedomblogging.com.

Ellie