The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

Video: Signing and Celebrating the Camp Lejeune Health Care Law

By ANDRE FRANCISCO

On August 6, President Obama signed into law a bill providing health care for the hundreds of thousands of people who suffered ailments from being rThaexposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. This was a huge victory for the many victims who have been fighting to get recognition and care for the many illnesses that have stemmed from the Camp Lejeune contamination.

The Project On Government Oversight worked hand-in-hand with the many heroes who fought for this victory including Ret. MSgt. Jerry Ensminger, Lejeune victim Mike Partain, the Environmental Working Group, and filmakers Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon.

Watch the video to see the signing, the celebration and the work that still needs to be done.

Read more about Camp Lejeune here.

Andre Francisco is an online producer for the Project On Government Oversight.

Follow @andrefrancisco

Healthcare Bill for Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Victims Signed Into Law

By ANNA MEIER

For thousands of former Marines and their families, Monday marked a milestone in an ongoing fight for truth and justice. In an Oval Office ceremony, President Obama signed into law the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act (H.R. 1627), which will provide healthcare for those exposed to contaminated water while living at Marine Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

“I’m still in shock,” Mike Partain, a breast cancer survivor born at Camp Lejeune, told The Kansas City Star on Monday. “We’ve been fighting for justice for so long—fighting the juggernaut of the Marine Corps. They should have quashed us a long time ago.”

Retired Marine Corps Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger has led the charge. The title of the new law that would provide healthcare for Camp Lejeune veterans and their families is named for his daughter, Janey, who passed away from leukemia in 1985 at the age of 9, while they were living on the base. Since Ensminger first learned about the toxic water 1997, he has tirelessly sought answers to why so many have fallen ill and died.

Senator Leahy Publishes Secret Camp Lejeune Documents

 

Sen. Patrick Leahy

By DANA LIEBELSON

The Navy and the Marine Corps may no longer be able to hide what really happened at Camp Lejeune—today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced that his committee has published more than 8,000 Pentagon documents related to the water contamination on its website, many of which have never before been seen by the public.

“The Marines and other Americans who have been touched by this environmental disaster deserve nothing but complete candor from their government,” Leahy said today on the Senate floor. “I say to those Marines, we will find out what happened.”

In March, Leahy and a bipartisan group of eight other senators sent a letter to Defense Secretary Panetta, requesting that the Camp Lejeune documents be delivered within two weeks, unredacted. In the past, the Navy has cited all sorts of reasons for withholding the documents, including security concerns about releasing this “critical infrastructure information,” despite the fact that the location of water wells is already public.

Last month, the Navy cited the Privacy Act and refused to release the requested documents until the senators provided “an official request from a committee or subcommittee of jurisdiction.” Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) responded to the Navy with an official Senate Judiciary Committee letter—to which the Navy had no choice but to turn over the information.

According to Senator Leahy’s press release, some redactions were made on the documents made public today, such as “personally identifiable information and information that would be subject to the Privacy Act.”

The publication of these documents isn’t the only good news to come out this week for Camp Lejeune victims. Yesterday, the Senate unanimously passed an important bill that would provide healthcare for Camp Lejeune veterans and their families. The bill now awaits action by the House.

Closer Than Ever to Justice for Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Victims

 

Marine Corps MSgt. Jerry Ensminger Lost His Daughter to Leukemia at Camp Lejeune

 

Finally, after many years of unnecessary suffering, some justice is within reach for the U.S. Marine Corps veterans and their families who were poisoned by the water at Camp Lejeune.

The Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to approve healthcare for veterans and their families who are victims of the toxic water contamination at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. For more than 30 years, the water Marines and their families drank and bathed in was contaminated by high levels of various volatile organic compounds, including known carcinogens. The “Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act,” H.R. 1627, is a bipartisan bill that reflects an agreement between the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee leadership on a variety of issues affecting veterans. 

But while the Senate has acted to assist the victims of Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps and Navy shamefully continue to deny responsibility and withhold information about the water contamination. Most recently, the Navy has delayed the release of water contamination documents in response to a request by nine members of Congress.

Camp Lejeune has been called one of the worst toxic contaminations in the country. It’s also possibly one of the U.S. military’s most shameful acts of deception and betrayal. Between 1957 and 1987, as many as 1 million civilians, Marines, and their family members at Camp Lejeune were exposed to toxic water. It turns out that for years, the Marine Corps knew but kept the deadly secret, blocking many attempts to uncover the truth.

However, it appears the Marine Corps’ and Navy’s days of hiding information about the toxic water contamination may soon be over. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have insisted on receiving all requested documents and plan to make them public. The Project On Government Oversight eagerly anticipates the release as early as today of some of these critical documents, formerly withheld by the Navy.

Navy Avoids Giving Members of Congress Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Docs

By DANA LIEBELSON

The Navy continues to play games when it comes to releasing critical information about the water contamination at Camp Lejeune—this time, by dodging the document request made by nine Members of Congress, the Project On Government Oversight learned today. But the fight for more information on Camp Lejeune is far from over.

The bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in March, asking him to deliver them a comprehensive set of records related to Camp Lejeune within two weeks, unredacted. You wouldn’t think that the Navy would be able to weasel out of that request, but they did anyway -- by invoking the Privacy Act.

“Because this repository contains [personally identifiable information], we may not release un-redacted records without an official request from a committee or subcommittee of jurisdiction in writing” Under Secretary of the Navy Robert O. Work wrote in a letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Lawmakers Urge President Obama to Help Camp Lejeune Veterans without Delay

By SUZANNE DERSHOWITZ

The Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Veterans' Affairs Committees in both the Senate and the House have sent a letter to President Obama asking him to provide health care services for Camp Lejeune veterans right away. The message from Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) and Representatives Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Bob Filner (D-CA) expresses a real sense of urgency, and POGO agrees that sick veterans exposed to contaminated drinking water at Lejeune should not have to wait one more day for the government to provide them with adequate healthcare.

Some of the lawmakers who sent this letter are also sponsoring bipartisan legislation that would deliver health care to veterans and their family members who are ill from exposure at Lejeune between 1957 and 1987. POGO also has been advocating for its passage.

The letter, dated April 20, aims to help those who need it immediately in the face of our less-than-speedy legislative process. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has existing resources which could be reserved for just this purpose without derailing other initiatives. According to Air Force Times, in February Rep. Miller proposed that the VA create a special healthcare category covering Lejeune veterans. “The cost of care could be paid, Miller suggested, by $5 billion in excess health care funds the VA discovered when preparing the 2013 budget.” The Senators and Representatives who signed onto this letter are asking President Obama to identify a portion of those appropriated funds (or other funds which can be repurposed) to be set aside for sick Camp Lejeune veterans and their families.

Lt. Col. Danny Davis, Camp Lejeune Documentary and Other Whistleblowers Honored at Ridenhour Awards

Lt. Col. Daniel Davis

By DANA LIEBELSON

Eileen Foster, a former senior executive for the national's largest mortgage provider, Countrywide Financial, didn't plan on getting labeled a whistleblower. She was hired to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by company employees. But when she did her job and revealed large-scale fraud within the company—the kind that led to the 2008 financial crash—she was fired for telling the truth.

Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis never set out to be a whistleblower either; he simply saw a discrepancy between what senior officers were telling Congress about the war in Afghanistan and the actual conditions on the ground. Refusing to abide by the idea that “the truth was negotiable,” he decided to go to Congress and the media to set the record straight.

Foster and Davis were just some of the truth-tellers honored yesterday at the 9th annual Ridenhour Prizes. The ceremony, hosted this year by POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian, recognizes those who champion the truth and uphold the spirit of Ron Ridenhour, the former U.S. Army helicopter gunner who exposed the My Lai Massacre based on accounts he had heard from fellow soldiers during the Vietnam War. Each prize comes with a $10,000 stipend.

 

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“This is the most threatening environment for whistleblowers in decades—this year’s prizewinners are heroes that demand to be heard” said Randy Fertel, President of the Fertel Foundation, which cosponsors the awards along with the Nation Institute.

One of this year’s prizes went to Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon, the filmmakers behind Semper Fi, Always Faithful, which chronicles Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger’s quest to get to the bottom of the Marine Corps’ cover-up of the deadly water contamination at Camp Lejeune.

“There are factions that call people ‘unpatriotic’ for holding military leaders accountable,” Ensminger said at the event. “But telling the truth is many times harder than going along with the status quo.”

New Podcast: A Father Talks About His Quest for Justice at Camp Lejeune

By ANDRE FRANCISCO

For 30 years, Marines and their families at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina used water contaminated with known carcinogens to cook, clean, and bathe. Jerry Ensminger was a drill instructor at Camp Lejeune and his daughter Janey was exposed to the contaminated water during her first trimester. Janey died of leukemia when she was nine years old.

Since finding out that the water at Camp Lejenue may have been connected with his daughter's death, Jerry has been on a quest to learn the truth about Camp Lejeune and to get justice for the contamination victims--as many as one million Marines and their family members, according to some estimates. Jerry's story was recently chronicled in the acclaimed documentary Semper Fi: Always Faithful, which was short-listed this year for an Academy Award.

POGO recently sat down with Jerry to talk about his story and the contamination at Camp Lejeune.

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If you want to do something after listening to the podcast, you can go to POGO's Camp Lejeune Action Center to support Jerry's efforts and find ways you can help. For additional information, you can go to The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten, a website set up for the victims of the contamination.

Andre Francisco is POGO's Online Producer

Follow @andrefrancisco

Photo by POGO's Pam Rutter.

Members of Congress Pressure Panetta to Release Information on Camp Lejeune

By DANA LIEBELSON

Pressure is mounting for the Navy and Marine Corps to stop concealing information related to the deadly contamination at Camp Lejeune. Yesterday, nine bipartisan Members of Congress sent a letter  to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, asking for a host of records related to the site to be delivered within two weeks—unredacted. The Members also informed Panetta that they are asking the Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General to conduct an independent investigation of the Navy/Marine Corps’ use of FOIA exemptions and “For Official Use Only” markings to justify redactions of crucial information related to the contamination.

The letter is signed by an impressive bunch: Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representatives John Dingell (D-MI), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Brad Miller (D-NC).

It comes on the heels of recent accusations by the sole author of a report on the Camp Lejeune water contamination. According to the report’s author, the scientific integrity of the report was compromised by legally questionable redactions requested by the Navy/Marine Corps, and granted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Department of Health and Human Services agency behind the report. Specifically, the author alleged that ATSDR gave Members of Congress “false and misleading” statements regarding the scientific content of the report.

This added even more evidence that the Navy/Marine Corps is serving its own interests by covering up this information—not those of the countless Marines, civilians, and their families harmed at Camp Lejeune.

 “The Department of Navy has expended considerable efforts to prevent the disclosure of important documents to the public. We believe very strongly that this is not in the public’s best interests,” the letter said.  “It is also inconsistent with President Obama’s statement that ‘…a democratic government accountable to the people must be as transparent as possible and must not withhold information for self-serving reasons or simply to avoid embarrassment.’”

POGO Director of Public Policy Angela Canterbury concurred and said, “It has been a really long fight for truth and accountability for Jerry Ensminger and the other victims of Camp Lejeune. I hope these Members of Congress are thanked well and often for standing up for them. It finally feels like the Navy/Marine Corps are running out of places to hide their wrongdoing.”

Dana Liebelson is POGO’s Beth Daley Impact Fellow.

Follow @dliebelson

Senate Judiciary Committee Talks FOIA and the Public's Right to Know

By SUZANNE DERSHOWITZ

Held during Sunshine Week, last Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, "The Freedom of Information Act: Safeguarding Critical Infrastructure Information and the Public’s Right to Know," was timely indeed. A wide range of issues were discussed, from the multi-agency FOIA portal scheduled to launch October 1 to the cybersecurity legislation pending in both the Senate and the House. The broad scope of topics covered perhaps illustrated the need for more hearings about FOIA and open government issues.

Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), a longtime champion of FOIA and open government, said that “excessive government secrecy can come at an unacceptable price.” Last year, POGO and partners urged Congress to fix the over-broad and ill-defined provision relating to critical infrastructure information (CII) that the Department of Defense (DoD) was seeking in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2012. Sen. Leahy and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) were successful in narrowing the blanket exemption to FOIA for CII. Their amendment requires DoD not to use FOIA’s CII exemption in cases where the public interest outweighs national security concerns. Jerry Ensminger’s testimony about the latest developments in the cover-up at Camp Lejeune demonstrated that more work needs to be done to ensure implementation of the law.

Witnesses on the first panel included Miriam Nisbet, director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) and Melanie Pustay, Director of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice (DOJ). In addition to managing DOJ’s FOIA administration, OIP is responsible for encouraging and overseeing agency compliance with FOIA and for ensuring that the President’s FOIA Memorandum is fully implemented across the government. 

Sen. Grassley (R-IA) said that the President’s promise to build the most transparent administration in history has not translated into meaningful open government reform. Sen. Grassley pointed to the DOJ winning the Rosemary Award for worst open government performance in 2011.

Sens. Grassley and Leahy were clearly exasperated that Congress hadn’t received OGIS’s recommendations for improving agency compliance with FOIA. Nisbet said OGIS submitted recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review over a year ago. "We haven’t received them yet,” said Leahy. “The law requires us to receive them. When will we receive them?"  He then offered to drive over to OMB to pick the recommendations up himself. When pressed, Nisbet promised to get “something” to Congress within a month.

Camp Lejeune Report Author Says Redactions Compromise the Science, Sen. Burr Calls for IG Investigation

By DANA LIEBELSON

Today, accusations were released from the author of the report on the Camp Lejeune water contamination, detailing how the scientific integrity of the report was compromised by redactions requested by the Navy/Marine Corps and granted by Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Moreover, Robert E. Faye, the hydrologist and civil engineer who authored the report, says ATSDR Administrator Dr. Thomas Frieden gave Members of Congress “false and misleading” statements regarding the scientific content of the report and its redactions.

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), who has long been an advocate for Camp Lejeune victims and was one of the Members of Congress asking ATSDR for answers about the redactions, released a letter that he sent to Dr. Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Administrator for ATSDR, expressing his ongoing “concern regarding the integrity of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) Camp Lejeune water contamination reports.”

As you may remember, in January, POGO and allies raised concerns about the legal justifications for the redactions—specifically, the fact that the Navy didn’t even mention the new law that ultimately will determine whether  the location of Camp Lejeune water wells should be withheld as “critical infrastructure information” or released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) because the public interest is greater than the need to secure the information.

Sen. Burr notes the congressional interest in the redactions in his letter and that the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing next week to look into the government’s process for determining whether this information can be legally withheld. In fact, Jerry Ensminger—the Marine who lost his daughter to leukemia and has become a tireless seeker of the truth about what happened at Camp Lejeune—will testify.

Another Member of Congress Raises Concerns about Secrecy and Camp Lejeune

By DANA LIEBELSON

Today, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) again threw her political weight into fighting secrecy at the Department of Defense (DoD), in particular, the DoD's justification for keeping secret information related to the water contamination at Camp Lejeune.

As POGO reported last month, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) recently released a redacted report on the water contamination at Camp Lejeune in response to a very legally dubious request by the Navy, which, citing security concerns about releasing “critical infrastructure information,” appeared to pressure the agency into not releasing the report in full. The critical infrastructure information that was kept secret happened to be related to the location of certain water wells which were contaminated for more than 30 years—but are still active.

Maloney sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta raising concerns about the Navy’s request and asking him pointed questions about how he plans to implement the “public interest balancing test” she helped author and pass last year. The new law requires the Defense Secretary, or designee, to use the test and determine whether security interests outweighs other public interests before withholding critical infrastructure information sought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Rep. Maloney is certainly not the only one troubled by the Navy and Marine Corps’ actions.