Department of Defending Itself

Back in April, a Government Accountability Office report explained how the White House Office of Management and Budget was holding up EPAâs IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) assessments. OMB had started requiring an âinteragency reviewâ process allowing agencies that might be affected by the IRIS assessments to provide comments on the documents â and as result, some of these outside agencies can effectively block completion of IRIS assessments, which inform federal environmental standards and many environmental protection programs at the local, state, and even international level.

The GAO explained that this interagency review process came about because the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and NASA were upset about how EPA was addressing âcontroversialâ chemicals such as perchlorate, napthalene, and trichlorethylene (TCE). DOD, DOE, and NASA view these hazardous substances as âintegral to their missions.â EPA IRIS assessments of them could lead to regulatory actions that will require lots of protection and cleanup spending by the responsible agencies.

Last week, the House Committee on Science and Technologyâs Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held its second hearing on the IRIS process. One witness was particularly vocal about DODâs foot-dragging on TCE.

Jerry Ensminger served as a Marine for 24 years, and in the 1970s he was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. From 1957 until 1987, Camp Lejeuneâs water was contaminated with the industrial chemicals TCE and PCE, which are linked to a long list of health problems, including leukemia and neural tube defects in children exposed in the womb. As many as one million members of military families drank and bathed in the contaminated water, and 850 of them are now seeking nearly $4 billion in compensation. Contamination was first identified in Camp Lejeune wells in 1980 and 1981, but officials waited five years before acting to address the problems.  (See these Associated Press stories for more details.)

Ensmingerâs daughter Janey, who was conceived when her parents lived at Camp Lejeune, was diagnosed with leukemia at age 6. Ensminger described the pain of seeing his daughter undergo painful medical procedures, and hearing her beg him not to let them hurt her anymore. When her treatments left her bald and overweight, her classmates teased her, calling her âCabbage Patch Kid.â Ensminger was at Janeyâs side when she died, at the age of 9.

Many other parents share Ensmingerâs grief â and his feelings of anger and betrayal. âNavy and Marine Corps officials were knowingly poisoning their own people,â Ensminger told the Committee.

In addition to delaying the shutoff of the contaminated wells, Navy and Marine Corps officials have slowed the progress of a study by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry on Camp Lejeune exposures. Last year, Rita Beamish reported for the Associated Press:

At Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps said in a written statement it gave U.S. health investigators âfull accessâ to its records, including âvast and variedâ documents, e-mails, maps, contracts and technical information. However, military lawyers acknowledged they are blocking plans for health officials to disclose some records publicly, citing privacy, legal and security concerns. â¦

Health officials repeatedly have complained about slow Defense responses to their information requests, correspondence shows. Military officials initially opposed a full study of child illnesses and balked for three years at paying for it, according to documents reviewed [by] the Associated Press.

Last week, Ensminger testified that this situation has not improved:

Since the ATSDR entered the gates of Camp Lejeune to execute their congressionally mandated mission, representative of the Department of the Navy have done all they could to obstruct their efforts. I can make this statement with confidence because I possess the documentation to back it up! As recently as the week before last, DoD and DoN officials were threatening to thwart the ATSDRâs initiatives at Camp Lejeune by withholding funding!

The Department of Defense is a major polluter, so its involvement in matters concerning TCE and other contaminants is a clear conflict of interest. Congress could help the Camp Lejeune research move more quickly by appropriating separate funds for studies, so ATSDR doesnât need to rely on DOD to supply the money. When it comes to the IRIS assessments, we need an Office of Management and Budget thatâs willing to let EPA do its job without interference from polluters, whether theyâre corporations or other government agencies.

UPDATE (6/18): There's a website called The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten that's dedicated to spreading the word about the Lejeuene water, particularly for those who were exposed to it. It includes lots of links to historical documents and news for those interested in learning more.