Bill champions Marines based at Camp Lejeune exposed to tainted water

Steve is based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, which is why when editors discussed a story about a bill introduced in Congress this week that would require care for those affected by tainted water at Camp Lejeune, my ears perked up.

Here's an excerpt from the story by Barbara Barrett of McClatchy Newspapers:

From about 1957 to 1987, Marines and their loved ones living at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina drank and bathed in well water that was contaminated with trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride. Some estimates are that as many as 1 million people might have been exposed.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to care for Marines and their family members who might have suffered ailments stemming from their exposure.

The story mentions one Marine whose daughter died at 9 from childhood leukemia - Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger discovered in 1997 that the water could've been linked to her illness.

Obviously, Steve shouldn't have been affected by the tainted water (he doesn't live on base and he's only been down there for the past year or so), but it's disheartening to know that so many Marines and their families have potentially suffered.