For over 30 years, service members who were stationed at Camp Lejeune and their families were exposed to dangerous and toxic drinking water. The base had a total of eight water treatment plants to supply drinking water to both residents and employees working on the base. Two of these treatment plants had serious issues that led to water contamination. One of the treatment plants was located not too far from a dry cleaner that had very poor chemical disposal methods. The industrial chemicals that the dry cleaner used found their way into the water that passed through the filtration plant. The other treatment plant was located near underground storage tanks that leaked into the water supply. A third water treatment plant received overflow water from one of the contaminated plants and sometimes had toxic water. Over the years, scores of people who served at Camp Lejeune were diagnosed with cancer or other illnesses because of the water. However, they often did not find out until after the fact why they were sickened.