Correction: Toxic Tap Water story

Correction: Toxic Tap Water story

WILMINGTON, N.C. — In a story Feb. 17 about contaminated water at the Camp Lejeune Marine base, The Associated Press made several errors. First, the AP reported erroneously that an environmental contractor omitted the cancer-causing chemical benzene from a final report on pollutants in a base well, part of a long-running review of contamination in the base’s water supply. The contractor’s 1994 report does list benzene as one of the contaminants in the well, although it does not say how much benzene was found. That error was repeated in a Feb. 18 story.

The Feb. 17 story also stated erroneously that a sample taken within the past three years showed the level of benzene in tap water wells had increased significantly. The sample was taken from a well that was not part of the base water supply and that was drilled specifically to monitor contamination.

Also, the story stated that in a test in 1984, a tap water well was left functioning for at least five months after sampling revealed its water contained high levels of benzene. Although a contractor took samples from the well in July 1984, government documents show that the military did not learn of the test results until November 1984. The Marines had taken the well out of service in the interim as part of a normal rotation of wells in use on the base, and after learning of the test results, base officials permanently shut down that well.