Four chemicals contaminated the drinking water at Camp Lejeune: trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), vinyl chloride, and benzene. These toxins entered the base’s water supply over a period spanning from the 1950s through 1987, exposing up to a million Marines, family members, and civilian workers to dangerously high levels of industrial solvents and fuel byproducts.
The Four Contaminants
Each chemical reached the base’s groundwater through a different path, but all four ended up flowing through the taps of on-base housing, barracks, and workplaces.
Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a heavy-duty degreasing solvent used to clean metal parts and equipment. It was the most concentrated contaminant found at Camp Lejeune. The maximum level detected in the Hadnot Point water system was 1,400 parts per billion (ppb), which is 280 times the current EPA safety limit of 5 ppb. TCE is classified as a known human carcinogen.
Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) is a solvent used in dry cleaning. The maximum level found in the Tarawa Terrace water system was 215 ppb, or 43 times the EPA limit. PCE contamination in Tarawa Terrace persisted for roughly 346 months, from November 1957 through February 1987, meaning families living in that housing area drank water exceeding safe levels for nearly 29 years.
Vinyl chloride was not dumped directly into the ground. It formed underground as bacteria broke down TCE and PCE through a natural process called reductive dehalogenation. In oxygen-poor soil and groundwater, microorganisms strip chlorine atoms off these solvents one at a time, producing intermediate chemicals. Vinyl chloride is the last and most toxic step before the compounds fully break down. It is a known carcinogen linked to liver cancer.
Benzene is a component of gasoline and is used in the production of plastics, resins, and synthetic fibers. It entered the groundwater primarily through fuel leaks at the Hadnot Point fuel farm. The first documented fuel leak there occurred in 1979, when an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of fuel escaped from an underground valve. Later Navy documents revealed the problem was far worse: between 1988 and 1991, as much as 1.1 million gallons of gasoline was floating on top of the groundwater table at the base. Benzene is a known cause of leukemia and other blood cancers.
Where the Contamination Came From
Camp Lejeune had multiple water treatment plants serving different parts of the base. The two most heavily affected systems were Hadnot Point and Tarawa Terrace, and each had a distinct contamination source.
The Hadnot Point system, which began operating in the early 1940s, served a large portion of the base including working and living areas. Its groundwater was poisoned by on-base industrial activities: TCE used for degreasing equipment, waste disposal practices, and massive fuel leaks from the Hadnot Point fuel farm. This system carried the highest concentrations of TCE and benzene.
The Tarawa Terrace system served family housing units and the Knox trailer park. Its primary source of contamination was ABC One-Hour Cleaners, an off-base dry cleaning business. PCE waste from that business seeped into the soil and migrated into the aquifer that fed the Tarawa Terrace wells. The most contaminated wells were finally shut down in February 1985, and the entire system was taken offline in March 1987.
How High the Levels Were
To put the contamination in context, the EPA sets a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5 ppb for both TCE and PCE in drinking water. That threshold represents the highest concentration considered safe for a lifetime of daily consumption.
The TCE levels at Hadnot Point reached 1,400 ppb. That is not a subtle overshoot of a safety standard. It is nearly 300 times what federal regulators consider safe. The PCE levels at Tarawa Terrace, while lower in absolute terms at 215 ppb, still exceeded the limit by a factor of 43. And these were the peak readings. ATSDR water modeling suggests that contamination above safe levels persisted for decades before anyone tested for it or shut the wells down.
Health Effects Linked to These Chemicals
A major mortality study comparing Camp Lejeune civilian workers to workers at Camp Pendleton (a similar Marine base with clean water) found significantly higher death rates at Lejeune for multiple cancers and diseases. Camp Lejeune workers had elevated mortality from cancers of the kidney, lung, breast, prostate, rectum, and oral cavity. They also had higher rates of leukemia, multiple myeloma, kidney disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
When researchers looked within the Camp Lejeune population itself, comparing workers with higher cumulative chemical exposure to those with lower exposure, a dose-response pattern emerged. Higher exposure was associated with increased risk for kidney cancer, esophageal cancer, prostate cancer, rectal cancer, leukemia, and Parkinson’s disease. This kind of dose-response relationship strengthens the case that the chemicals themselves, not some other factor, caused the elevated disease rates.
The Official Exposure Period
The federal government recognizes August 1, 1953, through December 31, 1987, as the official period of water contamination at Camp Lejeune. Anyone who served or lived on the base for at least 30 cumulative days during that window is considered potentially exposed. This includes active-duty service members, reservists, National Guard members, family members in base housing, and civilian employees.
The VA currently recognizes eight presumptive conditions for disability benefits tied to Camp Lejeune water exposure: adult leukemia, aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Parkinson’s disease. A diagnosis of any of these conditions, combined with qualifying service at the base, is sufficient for presumptive service connection without needing to independently prove the water caused the illness.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act, signed into law in August 2022 as part of the PACT Act, also allowed affected individuals to file legal claims with the Department of the Navy. That filing window closed on August 10, 2024.