Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Contaminated Water Lawsuits Stack Up For Marine Corps Camp Lejeune
Roll Call: Camp Lejeune Health Claims Are Mired Despite Law Allowing Suits
As claims and lawsuits pile up against the government related to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, the number of grievous health outcomes tied to exposure to those toxic chemicals at the Marine Corps base in North Carolina is also rising. A growing percentage of cases are becoming wrongful death suits rather than damage claims for illnesses as more Marines and their family members who were sickened by the tainted water, often many years after the exposure, lose their lives, according to several people involved in the litigation. (Magner, 3/23)
In other environmental health news —
AP: Many Millions Die Without Clean Water Or Sanitation, UN Says
A lack of drinking water and healthy sanitation infrastructure is dire around the world and getting worse, United Nations experts warned in a report issued Thursday. The report finds that many millions of the world’s 7.78 billion people don’t have enough clean water or sanitation infrastructure that helps keep humans healthy by taking waste away from their homes. (Weissenstein, 3/23)
AP: Radioactive Water Leaks At Minn. Nuclear Plant For 2nd Time
Water containing a radioactive material has leaked for a second time from a nuclear plant near Minneapolis and the plant will be shut down, but there is no danger to the public, the plant’s owner said Thursday. A leak of what was believed to be hundreds of gallons of water containing tritium was discovered this week from a temporary fix at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, where 400,000 gallons (1.5 million liters) of water with tritium leaked in November, Xcel Energy said in a statement Thursday. (3/24)
AP: Missouri School To Stay Closed After Contamination Scare
A Missouri grade school that was shut down last year amid concerns of possible radioactive contamination will not reopen, the school district said Thursday. Jana Elementary School, in the St. Louis County town of Florissant, closed in October after a private study indicated the presence of contamination in classrooms, the playground and elsewhere. The study was funded by lawyers whose clients were suing over radioactive waste in Coldwater Creek, which runs near the school. (Salter, 3/23)
The Hill: ‘Cancer Alley’ Residents Say They Are Victims Of Environmental Racism In New Lawsuit
Residents of an area of Louisiana that has become known as “cancer alley” due to the prominence of pollution coming from industry there are alleging that they are the victims of environmental racism in a new lawsuit. They specifically point to a 2014 land use plan issued by their parish, the Louisiana equivalent of a county, which designated majority-black areas as places where industry could develop, according to the lawsuit. (Frazin, 3/21)
Los Angeles Times: Scientists Uncover High Amounts Of Pure DDT Off L.A. Coast
First it was the eerie images of barrels leaking on the seafloor not far from Catalina Island. Then the shocking realization that the nation’s largest manufacturer of DDT had once used the ocean as a huge dumping ground — and that as many as half a million barrels of its acid waste had been poured straight into the water. (Xia, 3/23)
