http://southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2007/06/poisoned-patriots-north-carolinas-toxic.asp Linda
(portion of story below)
"In a recent debate on North Carolina Public Radio, N.C. Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue (D) insisted that there are "no downsides" to her plan of expanding military bases and defense industries in the state. I disagreed, citing the Institute's recent report North Carolina at War, which documents the social, economic and other costs of being "the most military-friendly state in the nation."
"Today, the Associated Press has a powerful story on one of the big "downsides" to banking on the military as an economic engine for the state: toxic pollution. Military bases are among the most environmentally destructive industries, as families living near North Carolina's marine base discovered:
Marine families who lived at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina over three
decades drank water contaminated with toxins as much as 40 times over today's
safety standard, federal health investigators said yesterday.
The government disclosed results from a new scientific study on the same
day that some families testified before a congressional panel about cancers and
other illnesses they attribute to drinking tainted tap water at the sprawling
training and deployment base.
The House Energy and Commerce panel, which held the hearing, described the
sickened Marines as "poisoned patriots."At least 850 former residents of the
base have filed administrative claims, seeking nearly $4 billion, for exposure
to the industrial solvents TCE and PCE, which contaminated Camp Lejeune's
drinking wells before 1987. TCE, or trichloroethylene, is a degreasing solvent,
and PCE, or tetrachloroethylene, is a dry-cleaning agent. The government
describes them as probable carcinogens .
"My wife and I now have new full-time careers just staying alive and
figuring out how to pay for it all," former Navy Dr. Michael Gros of Spring,
Texas, said.
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