Suit blames cancer on Marine base water

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A former Marine is suing the U.S. government, saying contaminated water at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune led to his suffering a rare form of cancer.

Joel Shriberg is seeking $16 million in damages, claiming "notorious and reckless contamination" at the military base led to his developing a rare form of breast cancer, the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer reported Sunday.

Shriberg of Pinehust, N.C., was a clerk with a howitzer battalion at Camp Lejeune from September 1957 to April 1959.

He was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 that has since spread to his lungs, the lawsuit says.

"The water contamination at Camp Lejeune has affected Marines and civilians alike," the suit says. "It has not discriminated in its poisoning of the former residents and personnel at Camp Lejeune during the relevant period, and continues to destroy both military and civilian families with its cancerous effects."

"From at least 1957 through 1987, Marines, their families and other personnel at Lejeune drank and bathed in water contaminated with more than 70 chemicals and toxins at levels 240 to 3,400 times permitted by safety standards," the complaint says.

Shriberg's lawyer says at least 850 former Camp Lejeune residents have filed claims for nearly $4 billion.