What to know
These results for Tarawa Terrace are based on information gathering, data interpretations, and water-modeling analyses for former Marines and their families who lived in Tarawa Terrace family housing units during the period November 1957 through February 1987.
Background
Results for Tarawa Terrace—based on information gathering, data interpretations, and water-modeling analyses — show that former Marines and their families who lived in Tarawa Terrace family housing units during the period November 1957 through February 1987 received drinking water primarily contaminated with the dry-cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE). Levels of PCE in the drinking water during this period exceeded the amount currently allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Exposure to PCE-contaminated drinking water occurred because PCE leaked into groundwater that supplied the Tarawa Terrace drinking water system from a dry-cleaner located outside the Camp Lejeune military base. In 1987, the military base shut down the Tarawa Terrace water treatment plant because of PCE contamination of the drinking water.
Graph and Table of Simulated and Measured Concentrations of PCE
This graph and table shows the levels of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) that may have been in your drinking water at Tarawa Terrace during your tour of duty at Camp Lejeune.
ATSDR Response to Department of Navy Letter
ATSDR Response to Department of Navy Letter on Assessment of Tarawa Terrace Water Modeling
On June 19, 2008, the Department of Navy (DON) provided ATSDR with technical comments on the Tarawa Terrace water-modeling analyses. On March 10, 2009, ATSDR responded to the DON comments. The DON letter and the ATSDR response are contained in the following PDF file.
Report chapters
Executive summary
This report concludes in its analyses of the Tarawa Terrace drinking water system at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina that former Marines and their families who lived in Tarawa Terrace family housing units during the period November 1957 through February 1987 received drinking water contaminated with the dry-cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at levels above the current maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5 ppb.
Chapter A
Executive Summary [PDF – 1.84 MB]
This report concludes in its analyses of the Tarawa Terrace drinking water system at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina that former Marines and their families who lived in Tarawa Terrace family housing units during the period November 1957 through February 1987 received drinking water contaminated with the dry-cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at levels above the current maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5 ppb.
Master Plate [PDF – 1.9 MB]
This is a map of the location of wells and boreholes, groundwater-flow model boundary, and present-day (2004) water distribution systems serving Tarawa Terrace, Holcomb Boulevard, and Hadnot Point and vicinity, U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Summary of Findings [PDF – 7.4 MB]
This is the full 116-page report of ATSDR's analyses of the Tarawa Terrace Drinking Water System at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. ATSDR concludes in its analyses that former Marines and their families who lived in the Camp Lejeune Tarawa Terrace family housing units during the period November 1957 through February 1987 received drinking water contaminated with the dry-cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at levels above the current maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 5 ppb.
To order a 3 DVD set that contains the information and data sources used to conduct the historical reconstruction analysis please send a request to ATSDRRecordsCenter@cdc.gov.
**NOTE**: ATSDR has been made aware that on some personal computer systems, the model input data files provided on DVD #3 cannot be copied. These files are provided below and can be downloaded. These files are identical to the files provided on DVD #3 that accompanies the Chapter A report.
** Download Model Input Data Files [ZIP – 8.6 MB]**
Chapter B
This report, Chapter B in the Tarawa Terrace series, provides detailed analyses and interpretations of well and geohydrologic data used to develop the geohydrologic framework of the Castle Hayne aquifer system at Tarawa Terrace and vicinity.
You may download the report as 1 file or in 4 sections:
Or
- Chapter B – Section 1 [PDF – 5.2 MB]
- Chapter B – Section 2 [PDF – 5.1 MB]
- Chapter B – Section 3 [PDF – 5.16 MB]
- Chapter B – Section 4 [PDF – 4.64 MB]
Chapter C
Chapter C [PDF – 5.2 MB]
This report, Chapter C, describes the development and calibration of a digital model applied to the simulation of groundwater flow within the Tarawa Terrace aquifer and Upper Castle Hayne aquifer system at and in the vicinity of the Tarawa Terrace housing areas.
Chapter D
Chapter D [PDF – 2.2 MB]
The Chapter D report provides abridged information describing the most salient properties and biodegradation of 27 chlorinated volatile organic compounds detected during groundwater studies in the United States. This information is condensed from an extensive list of reports, papers, and literature published by the U.S. Government, various State governments, and peer-reviewed journals. The list includes literature reviews, compilations, and summaries describing volatile organic compounds in ground water.
Chapter E
Chapter E [PDF – 2.7 MB]
This report, Chapter E, describes the occurrence and distribution of tetrachloroethylene and related contaminants within the Upper Castle Hayne Aquifer System at and in the vicinity of the Tarawa Terrace housing area. There also is a brief description of the occurrence and distribution of benzene, toluene, ethylene, and xylene (BTEX) and related compounds.
Chapter F
Chapter F [PDF – 5 MB]
This report, Chapter F, describes the development and calibration of a digital model applied to the simulation of the fate and transport of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) within the Tarawa Terrace aquifer and the Castle Hayne aquifer system at and in the vicinity of the Tarawa Terrace housing area, U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Chapter G
Chapter G [PDF – 11 MB]
This report, Chapter G, describes the three-dimensional simulation of the fate, degradation, and advective dispersive transport of PCE and associated degradation by-products—TCE, trans-1,2-dichloroethylene (1,2-tDCE), and vinyl chloride (VC)—within the Tarawa Terrace aquifer and Castle Hayne aquifer system at Tarawa Terrace and vicinity.
Chapter H
Chapter H [PDF – 7.8 MB]
This report, Chapter H, describes the effect of groundwater pumping variation on arrival times of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) at water-supply wells and the Tarawa Terrace water treatment plant, U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Chapter I
Chapter I [PDF – 9.4 MB]
This report, Chapter I, provides detailed information and interpretations of parameter sensitivity, variability, and uncertainty associated with model simulations of groundwater flow, contaminant fate and transport, and distribution of drinking water at Tarawa Terrace and vicinity. It relies on information, data, and simulation results from calibrated models presented in previously published ATSDR reports on Tarawa Terrace – Chapters A, B, C, E, and F.
**NOTE**: A CD-ROM, included with the report, contains calibrated model input files for use with the public domain model codes MODFLOW, MT3DMS, EPANET 2, and PEST.
** Download Model Input Data Files [ZIP – 17 MB]**
Graph and Table of Simulated and Measured Concentrations of PCEThis graph and table shows the levels of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) that may have been in your drinking water at Tarawa Terrace during your tour of duty at Camp Lejeune.