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A Timeline of Events: Camp Lejeune Water Contamination

Experts estimate that contamination at the Hadnot Point plant began in 1953. Then, in 1957, chemicals began contaminating the water at the Tarawa Terrace plant. From 1972 to 1985, the Hadnot Point plant sometimes supplied contaminated water to the Holcomb Boulevard plant.

People on base may have developed health issues like cancer and reproductive issues from exposure to water from these plants.

A Timeline of Finding Contaminated Water at Camp Lejeune

According to available documents, contaminated water was first discovered at Camp Lejeune in 1980. That year, Camp Lejeune began testing water for a chemical called trihalomethane (THM). Chemists were unable to confirm the presence of THM because of interference from other chemicals.

Despite warnings of unidentified chemicals in the water, Camp Lejeune officials did not act right away. The process of identifying these chemicals, shutting down affected wells and alerting the public took years. The events surrounding Camp Lejeune shutting down contaminated wells include:

  • May 1982: PCE and TCE are identified in the Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace water distribution systems during routine testing. PCE and TCE were the chemicals interfering with the 1980 THM testing results.
  • November 1984: Test results from wells served by the Hadnot Point plant convince Camp Lejeune officials to shut down several wells.
  • December 1984: The news of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune becomes public. The base’s newspaper publishes an article about their water-testing results and the shut-down wells.
  • January 1985: Further testing results in more wells being shut down. At the same time, contaminated water from the Hadnot Point plant is routed into several other housing areas.
  • February 1985: At this point, the most contaminated wells have all been shut down.

Given this timeline, questions remain as to why it took so long for Camp Lejeune officials to address water contamination. Between 1980 and 1985, many people on base were likely exposed to dangerous chemicals through their drinking water.

Since the news of contaminated water became public, Camp Lejeune officials have been under scrutiny. Many experts and advocates say official responses have been inadequate or misleading.

Camp Lejeune’s Response to the Discovery of Water Contamination

Experts, advocates and lawmakers have tried to understand the events at Camp Lejeune. In 2010, a congressional subcommittee looked into the matter. It noted that Marine Corps officials spent decades preventing full disclosure. It also asked why it took more than 4 years to shut down wells with known contamination.

It has sometimes been difficult to get records from the military about the contamination at Camp Lejeune. This has slowed down the investigation process. For example, certain military records about benzene contamination were only uncovered in 2009. These records changed previous conclusions about contamination.

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