Camp Lejeune Special Map – Approaches to New River

Training exercises at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s.

This detailed topographic map of the area around Camp Lejeune, North Carolina was issued to accompany ongoing training exercises at the 150,000+ acre facility (the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast). The base image has been overlaid with several brightly colored impact areas (red) and contaminated areas (yellow). Firing positions, observation posts, landing zones, and demolition areas are also noted according to the legend in the lower right. The map was prepared and published by the Defense Mapping Agency Topographic Center in Washington, D.C. in 1976.

At the time of issue, about 40,000 Marines were assigned to the base, along with 32,000 dependents, 4,000 civilian workers, and 10,000 retired Marines. Many of these individuals were subject to extreme levels of toxicity in the water used for drinking and bathing. Decades of environmental mismanagement by the military (approximately 1953 – 1987) led to unsafe levels of numerous harmful chemicals – the subsequent litigation and cleanup process remains ongoing.

Sources: Camp LeJeune History; United States Marines;  Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry;