Busted: Fed(eral) scientists dispute Marine Corps booklet

Fed scientists dispute Marine Corps booklet
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, January 31, 2011

The Marine Corps in July released a booklet with a reassuring message for as many as 1 million people who may have been exposed to polluted drinking water at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

"To date, the scientific community has not established an association between exposure to the contaminated water and health conditions reported by former residents of Camp Lejeune," former Corps commandant James Conway says in the booklet. More research, the booklet says, is unlikely to prove a link.

But now the federal agency researching one of the nation's worst public drinking water contaminations is demanding that the Marine Corps withdraw the booklet because its language is "misleading."

"It suggests there is no problem," said Thomas Sinks, a director of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), in a Jan. 14 letter to the Marine Corps. "It understates the potential hazards from the contaminated drinking water and may discourage individuals from participating in planned research studies."

Sinks wrote, "The presence of known human carcinogens in drinking water support a much more cautious and informative message being conveyed." For one thing, Sinks said, at least one link has been established: A federal study a few years ago noted low birth weight for boys whose mothers were exposed to a chemical in the water.