As we continue WHQR’s countdown of top news stories in 2011, we’ve come to #6—the ongoing study of the water contamination at Camp Lejeune.
WHQR’s Michelle Bliss reports that as many as one million people who lived and worked aboard Camp Lejeune from the 1950’s to the 1980’s may have been exposed to the tainted water.
This year, federal scientists have been conducting one of the largest public health studies of its kind on the possible health effects of exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
Chemicals such as benzene, trichloroethylene and other toxics leaked into groundwater on base, contaminating the drinking water supply for decades.
For the study, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry mailed out 300,000 surveys to people who worked or lived on base from 1972-1985.
Survey results are slated for release in early 2014.
Tune in all this week as we air WHQR’s 2011 Top Ten Countdown of news stories across the Cape Fear region and state.
