(NewsNation) — The Environmental Protection Agency this week banned two chemicals linked with cancer that contaminated tap water in the North Carolina Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from 1953-1987.
Veterans tell NewsNation that the prohibition of trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) is a bittersweet step forward for them.
Marine veteran Peter Romano, who was just 17 when he joined the force, served at Camp Lejeune for two years and developed testicular cancer by the time he was 22 years old.
“I remember vividly going to the water fountain,” Romano said. “You knew it was cold water. You put it in your canteen, you were good for the day — and it was poison the entire time.”
For Romano, the EPA ban is something that should have “happened 40 years ago.”
“Took them long enough, right?” Romano asked. “I honestly think we knew the same information back then as we do now, but we finally did something about it.”
Another man, retired Marine Corps Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger, was stationed for many years at the base. His daughter, Janey, was conceived at Camp Lejeune.
Janey died of leukemia in 1985 at the age of nine years old.
“We, along with the estimated 1 million Marines, their families and base employees exposed aboard the base from 1953 to 1987, welcome the news that the EPA has finally decided to implement a permanent ban on the organic solvent TCE,” Ensminger said. “There exists a long history of political interference supported by industry of blocking the EPA’s ability to protect the environment and public health…The future of our children and the health of our country vastly outweighs the needs of the almighty dollar.”
Romano says he and other veterans have noticed News Nation spotlighting the issue of contamination harming Americans and the push for government accountability and transparency.
NewsNation’s recent special, “Growing Broke: Forever Chemicals in America’s Heartland,” focused on the spread of PFAS, and how these “forever chemicals” are tainting fertilizer on farmland.
“I’m grateful for NewsNation doing this, because it brings to light America’s mistakes that we have made on our own people,” Romano said. “Let’s hope that people that are watching the special… are going to one day say, ‘This is never going to happen to us again, because we’re going to take care of each other.'”
