Senator: National Academy’s Unsound Science

North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, is disputing a National Academy of Sciences study of claims that health problems were caused by water contamination at Camp Lejeune between the 1950s and 1985. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports:

In a statement today, the Democrat said the study, released over the weekend, neglects key historical document and “severely downplays the established links between adverse health effects and exposure to [volatile organic compounds] that were present in the water at Camp Lejeune.”

Hagan called for a hearing to explore the topic. “Former personnel and residents of Camp Lejeune need closure on this issue and one way to help facilitate that is through a hearing in the Armed Services Committee,” her statement said.

She continued, “The time has come for Congress, the Department of the Navy, and the Marine Corps to work together to develop a plan to resolve the longstanding issue of water contamination at Camp Lejeune.”

More from Hagan’s press release:

“The NAS study released Saturday is simply a review of previous scientific literature on hydrocarbon solvents, reports on Camp Lejeune water contamination, and published epidemiologic and toxicological studies,” said Hagan. “However, it failed to take into account the conclusions of previous epidemiological studies that found an association between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) exposures and childhood leukemia, and presents some direct contradictions to the EPA’s maximum containment levels of VOCs in drinking water. Moreover, the NAS study barely mentioned benzene and vinyl chloride…. For these reasons, I cannot stand behind the validity of the NAS study.”

Are you saying, Senator, that the NAS is capable of…bad science?! That perhaps the most “prestigious” association of scientists is capable of ignoring vital research and facts?

In that case, Senator Hagen, can we revisit some of the other crapola science that NAS has produced recently, like with global warming (“is happening even faster than previously estimated”)? That statement, issued Thursday, is a proven lie.