In the autumn of 1980, a contractor showed up to grade a parking lot. He had no idea he was about to start digging up the radioactive bodies of dead beagles. But the forked bucket on his bulldozer started pulling up more than soil, and it turned out he was digging in a pit of strontium-90 and dog carcasses that had been buried in an ash-gray tomb: a nest of dead dogs and laboratory waste labeled "Radioactive Poison." The new parking lot was on the site of the former Naval Research Laboratory dump and its associated incinerator in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina-and it was just one of many areas contaminated by an assortment of hazardous waste and chemicals on the base. About half a mile away from the dump, soon to be known as Site 19, my friends and I were living in our neighborhood, called Paradise Point. We spent our time putting other girls' bras into freezers at slumber parties, playing the Telephone Game, riding our bikes all over the place: to the golf course to steal a cart, to swim at the pool, to play soccer on Saturdays.
Click here to read the Federal Register rule on Payment or Reimbursement for Certain Medical Expenses for Camp Lejeune Family Members Click here to read the Federal Register rule on Hospital Care and Medical Services for Camp Lejeune Veterans Governor Releases Statement on Senate Bill 574
Click here to read the Federal Register rule on Payment or Reimbursement for Certain Medical Expenses for Camp Lejeune Family Members
Click here to read the Federal Register rule on Hospital Care and Medical Services for Camp Lejeune Veterans
Governor Releases Statement on Senate Bill 574
Raleigh, NC - Governor Pat McCrory released the following statement following the signing of Senate Bill 574: “This solution is a testament to our ability
In the early 1980s at the Marine Corps Base in Lejeune, NC, it was discovered that two on-base water-supply systems were contaminated with the volatile organic compounds trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal degreaser, and perchloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning agent. Benzene, vinyl chloride, and other compounds were also found to be contaminating the water-supply systems. For the full link click here.
Many of the members of the MCRA have been stationed during their career at Camp Lejeune. As such, this issue is one that the MCRA is following closely and has been advocating on Capitol Hill for many years. Much progress has been made, but there is much work remaining. We will continue to follow this issue for as long as it remains. We will strive to keep the membership informed of all news on this issue. The Marine Corps encourages all those who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune before 1987 to register to receive notifications regarding this matter. In addition, the Department of the Navy is funding independent research initiatives.
Carol Smith Davis grew up in Jacksonville and on Camp Lejeune. Davis remembers spending almost every day of every summer at the pool when she was young. It was fun and there wasn’t much else to do in the area during the 60s and 70s, she said. But even as a child she had problems. Davis has had issues with her immune system all her life in addition to tumors in both of her breasts. Because of this, she had doctor recommended breast exams twice a year.