My organization, the Project on Government Oversight, received a curious letter today revealing that the Department of Navy seems to be putting pressure on another government agency to stymie its release of information related to the water contamination scandal at Camp Lejeune.
Camp Lejeune will likely go down in history as the stage of one of the worst toxic contaminations in the country—and one of the most shameful cover-ups by the Marine Corps. And judging by this letter, the Navy still has plenty to hide.
Between 1957 and 1987, as many as one million Marines at Camp Lejeune and their family members used and ingested water contaminated by extremely toxic organic compounds.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was mandated by Congress to conduct environmental and health investigations into this horrific incident. A report is anticipated in the near future. In a letter given to POGO by an anonymous source, and dated January 5, the Department of Navy told the agency that the “security environment” has “significantly changed” since the Camp Lejeune investigation began.
“I request that we work together to review our public domain materials and take appropriate steps to protect critical infrastructure information,” wrote Marine Corps General J.A. Kessler in the letter.
The Navy is asking ATSDR to take the military’s security into account, but we're concerned the Navy's pressure is really an attempt to block release of information that could have great public interest. After all, ATSDR has been doing oversight—in particular, health assessments and health study activities—that could implicate the U.S. Marine Corps and the Department of Navy in wrongdoing. This raises questions as to what interests the Navy is seeking to protect.
The military and civilian families of Camp Lejeune deserve to know nothing short of the whole truth. What do you think about this letter?