Camp Lejeune Veteran Marines want answers on water and cancer

What was in Marines' water?
Study probes vets' health problems
BY MEGHA SATYANARAYANA
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Shelby Township resident James Fontella is a breast cancer survivor who believes contaminated water at the Camp Lejeune military base in North Carolina caused his illness.

The Marines are trying to determine whether he and 3,346 other Michiganders with various illnesses are correct about a possible link.

They are among 144,000 people nationwide participating in a study on the health effects of drinking water at Camp Lejeune between the mid-1950s and the mid-1980s.

The list includes servicemen such as Mike Doyle and John Yeip of Warren and Pat Flynn, who lives near Iron Mountain, all with kidney problems; Natalie McPherson, whose husband, Anthony, died of Hodgkin's disease; Tim Heffron of Grand Rapids, who has lumps in his chest; and Joshua Smith of Chelsea, Kathleen Armstrong of Redford Township and Richard Herr of Jackson -- three breast cancer survivors.

Fontella, a 63-year-old Vietnam veteran, wants more than confirmation. He wants compensation.

As a veteran, he can't sue the government, but he and two others asked Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, to co-sponsor a bill that would ensure hospital, medical and nursing home care for Camp Lejeune veterans and families.

Camp Lejeune is a Superfund site now -- the federal government ordered the military to clean it up.

Did you ever live at Camp Lejeune?


The water at the base was contaminated between the 1950s and 1980s, and the Marine Corps has a registry at https://clnr.hqi.usmc.mil/clwater.

Click on "Register Here." The Camp Lejeune Call Center number is 877-261-9782, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Detroit time, or e-mail clwater@usmc.mil.



For advocacy information, a time line of Camp Lejeune contamination events and a discussion group, go to www.tftptf.com , a Web site hosted by Mike Partain.

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What was in Marines water