US Marines Drank Contaminated Water For Decades After Daily Physical Training

Staying hydrated by drinking water was thought to be a lifeline for US marines engaged in daily physical training but instead turned out to be a death sentence

Saturday, March 4, 2023 - Life for US marines and civilian employees at Camp Lejeune was very different 20, 30, or even 50 years ago. One constant, however, was the physical training that Marines engaged in, day in and day out. Daily physical training (PT) was grueling and often included runs of 10 to 20 miles, followed by arriving back at the base. Back in the day, a decade or more ago, Marines would line up at the closest water fountain, garden hose, or spigot on the side of a building to quench their thirst. There were no bottled water machines back in the 1980s. Clean-certified bottled water is a relatively new concept. Today a Marine twists open a bottle of water after a grueling workout. While it is easy to take bottled water for granted, it was the only thing that could have stood between the fighting forces and developing cancer and dying. US marines consumed enormous quantities of Camp Lejeune water without knowing it was tainted with volatile organic compounds, benzene, and other deadly chemicals after every PT workout. Millions of US marines may have developed cancer, many have died, and others have cancer lying dormant in their bodies. Cancer may have a decade-long latency period awaiting the day its symptoms become evident.

Peter Romano of Sayreville, New Jersey, a US marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, tells about cancer he developed from presumably drinking contaminated tap water after PT every day. Romano told Fox News, "When you're done with the run, you're not lining up at the vending machine to buy the bottled water because there wasn't bottled water back then the way it is now," he recalled in an interview with Fox News. "So, it was either the hose or the water fountain. That's pretty much how you cooled off after the runs. Used to fill your canteen up, go to the gym. That's the water you use. That's the water you drank." According to Fox, Romano was diagnosed with testicular cancer and hepatitis C in 1988, one year after completing his military service. The Marine Corps veteran spent until recently searching for answers as to what may have caused the disease. The US Marine Corps knew in 1982 that two main water treatment facilities at Camp Lejeune were contaminated with carcinogenic levels of VOCs thousands of times greater than what is considered to be safe. "What went through my mind at the time was, 'How did this happen?' I was really healthy at the time. Where is this coming from? " What didn't run in the family? Nobody ever did. I mean, not even cancer ran in the family. I just attributed it to God's will, to be honest with you," Romano lamented to Fox. "They knew about it in 1982. I didn't sign up for the Marine Corps until 1984. They could have solved the problem and saved a lot of people," Romano said, "but they chose not to say anything until 1987." Thousands of US Marines with cases similar to Romano, and also civilian employees on the base who were exposed to Camp Lejeune water contamination seek millions of dollars in lump-sum monetary compensation by filing a Camp Lejeune Justice Act claim.

Information provided by CampLejeuneJusticeActClaim.com, a website devoted to providing news about Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claim, including a free no-cost, no-obligation Camp Lejeune Justice Act Claim.