The death of Janey Ensminger led to the creation of H.R.1742, known as the Janey Ensminger Act, an act of the

112th United States Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...

which established a presumption of service connection for illnesses associated with contaminants in the water supply at

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States Armed Forces, United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for Amphibious warfare, amphibious assault training, and its ...

between the years 1957 and 1987 and which provided healthcare to family members of veterans who lived at Camp Lejeune while the water was contaminated. Ensminger was one among thousands of victims of the

Camp Lejeune water contamination The Camp Lejeune water contamination problem occurred at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, from 1953 to 1987. During that time, United States Marine Corps (USMC) personnel and families at the base bathed in and ing ...

scandal, which is believed to be one of the largest water contamination incidents in United States history.

Life of Janey Ensminger

Etsuko and Jerry Ensminger welcomed Jane "Janey" Yoshi Ensminger into the world on July 30, 1976 in South Carolina. Her father is American, while her mother is Japanese. She was the only one of the Ensmingers’ children to have been conceived, carried or born while the family was living at Camp Lejeune. Janey was diagnosed with leukemia in 1983 and was the only child in the entire family’s known history to have been diagnosed with cancer. She was subjected to many bone marrow extractions and spinal taps, fighting the cancer for nearly 2½ years before succumbing to it. Right after her death, her parents divorced.

H.R. 1742

H.R. 1742 was introduced into Congress by U.S. Representative Brad Miller on May 5, 2011. It was the result of Jerry Ensminger's conviction that Janey's leukemia was caused by toxic chemicals in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune, which Jerry did not know about until 1997, when a federal government report concluded that for nearly three decades the tap water at Camp Lejeune had been contaminated by toxic chemicals associated with childhood and adult cancers, especially leukemia. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

signed the bill into law in 2012, saying at the White House ceremony that the country has a “moral and sacred duty” to care for those sickened by the contaminated drinking water.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ensminger, Janey 1976 births 1985 deaths Deaths from acute lymphocytic leukemia Deaths from leukemia in the United States September 1985 events in the United States 1985 in North Carolina