Maritime Corps Base Camp Lejeune, situated in North Carolina, served as A significant U.S. navy training facility from 1941 until finally its deactivation in 1997. In the course of its Energetic a long time, A large number of assistance associates as well as their households lived on the base, making it a lively and close-knit Local community.

However, the latest revelations regarding the contaminated water source at Camp Lejeune have lifted worries with regards to the health of people that lived on the base. Within the fifties for the nineteen eighties, ingesting h2o at The bottom was contaminated with poisonous chemical substances, which include benzene, vinyl chloride, and trichloroethylene. These substances, which had been Employed in dry cleaning, degreasing, and metalworking procedures, happen to be linked to a variety of significant health issues, which include cancers, beginning defects, and developmental Ailments.

In 2012, the Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) recognized 8 ailments linked to publicity into the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune:

Grownup leukemia
Aplastic anemia as well as other myelodysplastic syndromes
Bladder cancer
Kidney most cancers
Liver cancer
Multiple myeloma
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Parkinson’s condition
For many who lived or worked on The bottom for at least thirty days concerning January one, 1957, and December 31, 1987, the VA delivers wellbeing treatment benefits for the above mentioned stated ailments. Also, the VA has established a presumptive support connection for specified disabilities, meaning that veterans and their households can acquire compensation Gains while not having to confirm a immediate relationship concerning their ailment as well as their Eligible for Camp Lejeune lawsuit military assistance.

Even with these attempts, several former residents of Camp Lejeune nonetheless wrestle to entry the treatment and guidance they need. The VA has faced criticism for its slow processing of claims and its rigid eligibility prerequisites, which lots of former people believe are too restrictive.

It is necessary to notice which the contamination at Camp Lejeune just isn't a singular issue. Many other armed forces bases and civilian communities have faced identical complications, and the government has taken ways to handle them. Nonetheless, for the former people of Camp Lejeune, the health results in their exposure to your contaminated h2o will keep on to be felt for generations to come.

In summary, the previous people of Maritime Corps Foundation Camp Lejeune are entitled to our help and recognition for his or her assistance to our state. It is actually our duty to make certain they may have access to the care and Added benefits they will need, and to operate to avoid similar environmental hazards from impacting other navy communities Later on.