Erin Brockovich tells Marine veterans Camp Lejeune poisoned water was 'a coverup'

In 2007, Mike Partain was diagnosed with breast cancer. His doctors said his diagnosis was an anomaly — at 39, he only has a 0.005% chance of developing the cancer.

Soon after he underwent a mastectomy, he learned what is likely the cause of the rare diagnosis: He was conceived and born at Camp Lejeune in 1968, where his parents were unaware the water they were drinking and bathing in was laced with toxic chemicals.

On Saturday, dozens of marine veterans and their families gathered at the American Legion in Wilmington to hear Partain and others speak about the toxins present in Camp Lejeune’s water for decades, causing a range of health conditions in those who consumed it, most notably leukemia and other types of cancer.

Standing alongside the veterans and attorneys hosting the town hall was Erin Brockovich, an environmental activist best known for a 1993 lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric over groundwater contamination.

"(This) is the largest environmental contamination in the history of the United States of America,” Brockovich said. “This was a coverup. The United States Government knew and they failed to tell you, and that infuriates me.”

Brockovich and the group are traveling across the United States to educate former Camp Lejeune residents about the toxins in the base’s water. Their first stops are in North Carolina near Camp Lejeune before they travel to other states to host additional town halls.

This comes after President Joe Biden signed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act in August, allowing veterans stationed at the base between 1953 and 1987 to file civil lawsuits against the US Government.

“I do feel like saying to you I am sorry,” Brockovich said. “I am ashamed that we’ve gotten here.”

Over the past 25 years, information has come to light about the toxic chemicals trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) in two on-base water wells that were shut down in 1985. Evidence shows those toxins can cause numerous different types of cancer, according to the CDC. It’s believed hundreds of thousands of marines and their families were impacted by the toxins.

Spearheading that effort to raise awareness around the water contamination was Jerry Ensminger, whose daughter died of leukemia at just nine years old. He stood behind Biden as the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was signed into law.

“My thoughts went back to, what about all these other guys and their families?” Ensminger said. “I took on that mission at that time to let all my fellow marines and their families and everybody else … to let them know. To let them get a glimmer of hope about what happened to them, what happened to their loved ones.”

Additional town halls will take place in Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Greensboro in the coming weeks.

Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at shoover@gannett.com or on Twitter at @sydneymhoover.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Erin Brockovich addresses toxic Camp Lejeune water in Wilmington