permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Tommy Tolson wrote:

> How many cancer victims do we bury before we get fighting mad at polluters?  
> Cancer is 95% environmentally caused and US citizens do not have the 
> power to be genuinely responsible for cleaning up the environment 

Here you go, in tonight's news:
|

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/12/toxic.tapwater/index.html
Camp Lejeune water pollution, cancer link investigated
POSTED: 8:13 p.m. EDT, June 12, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Some 75,000 Marines and their families at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were exposed to toxic tap 
water that may have caused cancer and birth defects, a federal health official testified Tuesday.

Results of a new study of the base's water were released Tuesday, the same day lawmakers heard emotional testimony from 
families who were affected by the water, which contained 40 times the amount of toxins considered safe by today's standards.

Camp Lejeune's water supply was polluted from 1957 until 1987 by TCE, a degreasing solvent, and PCE, a dry cleaning 
agent. The chemicals apparently came from a dry cleaning store near the base, according to the government.


At least 850 former Camp Lejeune residents have filed legal claims.
Pollution discovered in 1982

In 1992, federal regulators set the maximum allowable amount at 5 micrograms of PCE per liter, Sinks told CNN in a 
telephone interview after he testified before the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

But residents at Camp Lejeune were exposed to an average of 70 micrograms of PCE per liter, with the highest levels 
around 200 micrograms per liter.

The contamination was discovered in 1982 in several wells that fed into two of the base's eight water systems, according 
to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency.

The agency, which has been studying the contamination since 1993, blamed leaking underground storage tanks, spills and 
drum disposal as well as solvent-disposal practices at an off-base dry cleaners.

Its Web site, www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune, lets Marines enter the dates they lived on the base and learn about their 
exposure.

The chairman of the committee, Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, said he will examine handling of the water 
investigation in 2005 by the Environmental Protection Agency's criminal division.

An EPA investigator, Tyler Amon, acknowledged Tuesday that officials had considered accusing some civilian Navy 
employees of obstruction of justice.

Amon, who testified despite objections from the Bush administration, said some employees interviewed during the criminal 
investigation appeared coached and were not forthcoming with details.

Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, the panel's ranking Republican, said he was 
puzzled why criminal charges weren't pursued.

"We have many people who have died," Whitfield said. "We have many people who have 
suffered significant health problems."

===============================

Repeat:

"Amon, who testified despite objections from the Bush administration, said some employees interviewed during the 
criminal investigation appeared coached and were not forthcoming with details."