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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Martha Mendoza | AP

Toxic legacy: Veterans worry chemicals at California base left them to face cancer

Photos of Julie Akey during her time at Ford Ord on a table at her home in Herndon, Va. What she didn’t know while working at the military base was that the ground under her feet and the water that ran through the sandy soil were polluted with a cancer-causing class of chemicals including benzene and trichloroethylene. | Patrick Semansky / AP

FORT ORD NATIONAL MONUMENT, Calif. — For nearly 80 years, recruits reporting to central California’s Fort Ord considered themselves lucky.

They felt privileged to live and work amid sparkling seas, sandy dunes and sage-covered hills.

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