PurpleheartOklahoma (scroll down)

VA should care for Lejeune vets say lawmakers

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 23, 2012 16:24:35 EDT
  
Key lawmakers are appealing directly to President Obama to get the Veterans Affairs Department to provide free health care to veterans who were exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune during a 30-year span that ended in 1987.

Their appeal comes after VA — while acknowledging the drinking water in barracks, housing, schools, hospitals and offices on the base was contaminated — has refused to provide health care until there is a clear link to adverse health effects. This might not be determined before 2014.

Millions of people who lived and worked at Camp Lejeune could have been affected by the industrial and toxic wastes, but years of study about the possible duration and level of contamination have provided only “limited” and “suggestive” evidence that exposure for more than 20 years might have resulted in issues such as kidney cancer.

In February, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, proposed VA could at least provide health care for Camp Lejeune veterans by creating a special health care category that covered them. The cost of care could be paid, Miller suggested, by $5 billion in excess health care funds the VA discovered when preparing the 2013 budget.

Miller’s proposal, which would have applied only to veterans and not to family members who might have lived or visited Lejeune, was rejected by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who said in an April 9 response to Miller that it was premature to provide health care to everyone who served at Lejeune from 1957 until 1987.

Shinseki suggested veterans could still file for disability claims if they felt they had a service-connected disability. About 1,000 Camp Lejeune veterans have filed disability claims, he said, and 238 were found to have service-connected disabilities “for some reason” that did not depend on a scientific link to consuming contaminated ground water.

Miller and other lawmakers are not ready to take no for an answer. In a joint letter to President Obama, sent Friday, the leaders of the House and Senate veterans’ affairs committee are renewing Miller’s suggestion.

“The VA has existing resources which could be reserved without derailing other initiatives,” the letter says, asking that a portion of excess funds resulting from overestimating health care costs be allocated “to provide care for sick Camp Lejeune veterans and family members.”

The letter is signed by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairwoman; Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the ranking Republican on Murray’s committee and a longtime advocate of government health care for Lejeune veterans and families; and by Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., ranking Democrat on Miller’s committee “There is enough scientific evidence already that warrants giving the benefit of the doubt to those who need help now,” the joint letter says.

 

Is the Navy Trying to Keep the Camp Lejeune Investigation Secret
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c68bf53ef0167605e1e2f970b

 

By DANA LIEBELSON
POGO received a curious letter today revealing that the Department of Navy seems to be putting pressure on another government agency to stymie its release of information related to the water contamination scandal at Camp Lejeune.

 

Camp Lejeune will likely go down in history as the stage of one of the worst toxic contaminations in the country—and one of the most shameful cover-ups by the Marine Corps. Between 1957 and 1987, as many as one million Marines at Camp Lejeune and their family members used and ingested water contaminated by extremely toxic organic compounds.

 

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) was mandated by Congress to conduct environmental and health investigations into this horrific incident. A report is anticipated in the near future. In a letter given to POGO by an anonymous source, and dated January 5, the Department of Navy told the agency that the “security environment” has “significantly changed” since the Camp Lejeune investigation began.

 

“I request that we work together to review our public domain materials and take appropriate steps to protect critical infrastructure information,” wrote Marine Corps General J.A. Kessler in the letter.

 

Kessler goes on to outline exactly what kind of information ATSDR should “review carefully.” This includes location information for active and inactive potable water wells, lines, treatment plants and storage tanks.

 

The Navy is asking ATSDR to take the military’s security into account, but we're concerned the Navy's pressure is really an attempt to block release of information that could have great public interest. After all, ATSDR has been doing oversight—in particular, health assessments and health study activities—that could implicate the U.S. Marine Corps and the Department of Navy in wrongdoing. This raises questions as to what interests the Navy is seeking to protect.

 

Notably, the Navy makes no mention of the “public interest balancing test” now required by the language introduced in December by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) to a Department of Defense FOIA exemption passed late last month in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012.

 

According to the new exemption for certain “Critical Infrastructure Security Information,” the Secretary of Defense must consider whether the public interest in disclosure of information outweighs the government’s need to withhold the information, when evaluating FOIA requests.

 

“If the Navy is successful, it could set a very dangerous precedent for other agencies to withhold federal scientific and environmental information from the public, by letting agencies invoke unsubstantiated national security concerns,” said Angela Canterbury, POGO’s director of public policy.

 

Canterbury urges ATSDR to release all information surrounding the investigation allowed under the law, and asks Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to ensure that the Navy and every other department and agency under DoD are appropriately using the public interest balancing test.

 

“The military and civilian families of Camp Lejeune deserve to know nothing short of the whole truth” she said.

 

Dana Liebelson is the Beth Daley Impact Fellow

 

 

Camp Lejeune - aboard the base between 1957 and 1987.
Program will air Feb. 24th on MSNBC 10 PM ET and tells the story of the water contamination. 

http://info.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10351686-msnbc-presents-semper-fi-always-faithful-friday-february-2410-pm-et

 

https://clnr.hqi.usmc.mil/clwater/

Please go to the Camp Lejuene/Marine Corps website above and register if you were exposed/especially if you are having any health problems now.  Then see a doctor and a good Veterans Service Officer to put in a claim.

Bruce

 

EPA Rules Lejeune Water Contaminant Causes Cancer
October 01, 2011 9:46 AM
HOPE HODGE - DAILY NEWS STAFF
 
A long-anticipated report by the Environmental Protection Agency determined this week that exposure to the chemical degreaser TCE causes cancer in humans. In the Camp Lejeune community, this means that those who lived and worked on base between the 1950s and 1980s, when solvents including TCE contaminated the water supply, may have finally proved what was making them sick.
The report, released Thursday, found that exposure to TCE, short for trichloroethylene, is convincingly linked to kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and liver cancer, with more limited evidence that it causes bladder, esophageal, prostate, cervical, and breast cancers, as well as childhood leukemia.
According to the findings, all routes of exposure can be carcinogenic to humans.
For a large cluster of male breast cancer survivors who all have Camp Lejeune in common, the information vindicates the belief that they were poisoned by the base water.
Tallahassee, Fla., resident Mike Partain, who survived male breast cancer nearly four decades after his birth aboard Camp Lejeune, said the cluster now has 71 members.
“This is confirmation of what we’ve known all along,” Partain said.
Partain said the report also serves to further discredit a 2009 finding from the National Research Council, often cited by Marine officials and public affairs materials, finding no clear connection between the base water and latent disease.
Jerry Ensminger, a local water contamination victims’ advocate who lost a daughter to childhood leukemia in 1985, said he was heartened by the report.
“This was 20-plus years in the making,” he said. “It’s a crying shame that it takes that long for our regulatory agencies to finally getting around to protecting public health and the environment.”
Contamination victims and their advocates hope the EPA findings will assist in the passage of the Senate Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act, which would provide hospital and nursing home care and medical services to those affected by the water. The bill has nine co-sponsors; its companion bill in the House, the Janey Ensminger Act, has 23. 2

In a statement released by the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., Burr said the new information is vital for veterans of Camp Lejeune.
“This designation, which raises questions about the National Academy of Science’s 2009 review of TCE and PCE at Camp Lejeune that the Navy and Marine Corps have cited in their literature to the affected community, is of the utmost significance as it will further inform veterans and their family members, who may have contracted various forms of cancer as a result of exposure to this chemical, of the risk associated with it,” he said. “I am hopeful additional awareness will spur them get the medical assessment and treatment they need.”
A spokeswoman for the Environmental Working Group, LeeAnn Brown, said the group was pleased by the EPA’s move to classify TCE, though it was a long time coming.
“I think that we do know that there has been strong lobbying efforts from the chemical industry and other industries that use trichloroethylene.” she said. “I think for them they see it as a concern from just a public relations standpoint.”
Marine Corps Spokeswoman Capt. Kendra Hardesty said the Corps was aware of the report.
“We are reviewing the recently published report that is substantially similar to the draft report we have previously seen, and we will update our information and materials accordingly,” she said.
Three-quarters of a million people may have been exposed to contaminated water while aboard Camp Lejeune.
Contact military reporter Hope Hodge at 910-219-8453 or hhodge@freedomenc.com.
http://www.jdnews.com/articles/cancer-95715-lejeune-exposure.html

 

VA quietly giving benefits to Marines exposed to toxic water
By Barbara Barrett | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Former Marine Corps Cpl. Peter Devereaux was told about a year ago that he had just two or three years to live.

More than 12 months later, at 48, he still isn't ready to concede that the cancer that's wasting his innards is going to kill him. He swallows his pills and suffers the pain and each afternoon he greets his 12-year-old daughter, Jackie, as she steps off her school bus in North Andover, Mass.

The U.S. Department of the Navy says that more research is needed to connect ailments suffered by Marines such as Devereaux who served at Camp Lejeune and their families who lived there to decades of water contamination at the 156,000-acre base in eastern North Carolina. Meanwhile, however, the Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly begun awarding benefits to a few Marines who were based at Lejeune.

"Right now, I would venture to say that any Camp Lejeune veteran who files a claim now is presumed to have been exposed to the contaminated drinking water," Brad Flohr, the assistant director for policy, compensation and pension service at the VA, told a meeting of affected Marines and family members in April.

It's estimated that as many as a million people were exposed to the water from the 1950s to the 1980s. The water was laced with trichloroethylene, known as TCE; tetrachloroethylene, known as PCE; benzene and other volatile organic chemicals.

Peter Devereaux doesn't expect to be around for Jackie's college years, but he hopes to be able to pay for them. Along with hundreds of other veterans across the country, he's convinced that contaminated water caused his cancer.

"It's like it's criminal, you know?" said Devereaux, who has male breast cancer.

While the Department of the Navy, which oversees the base, is funding continuing research on the issue, in some cases the VA has acknowledged that as likely as not, some Marine veterans' ailments were caused by drinking and bathing in poisonous water.

Despite the exposure, though, there's no presumption that a veteran's disease was caused by the contamination. Each case is judged on hits own merits, Flohr said.

Still, veterans' advocates have hope.

"It matters. That's an admission, right there," said Jerry Ensminger, a Marine veteran in North Carolina who lost his daughter to leukemia in 1985 after living at Camp Lejeune.

James Watters of Lubbock, Texas, was told in 2008 that he had a year to live. In June 2009, he learned that the VA had linked his cancer to the Lejeune contamination.

"This thing is huge in its ramifications," Watters said. "I think it just opens the floodgates."

More Marine veterans are learning about what happened years ago at Camp Lejeune.

Two years ago, a new law required the Defense Department to contact veterans through the Internal Revenue Service and tell them about their exposure.

Many veterans interviewed by McClatchy said they had no idea that they'd been exposed until they opened the envelopes in the mail.

"You know what went off in my head? A light bulb," said Allen Menard, 47, of Green Bay, Wis. His doctor had told him years before that his form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, mycosis fungoides, was chemical-related.

He filed for VA disability in 2008, blaming his cancer on Lejeune's water, and was at first denied before finally he was granted a full service connection, a recognition that his illness is related to his service, this spring.

"I did my research. I had to fight," Menard said. "I had two professors at Boston University write letters for me."

One of those professors, epidemiologist Richard Clapp, said veterans deserve an answer about what effects the water might have had on their health.

"It's a horrific problem," said Clapp, who serves on a community panel that's studying the Lejeune contamination. "There are lots of people exposed, some to very high levels of these chemicals. Some for short periods for time, some for decades."

The public is only now beginning to realize the extent of the contamination.

Stories among the veterans indicate a handful have been given service connections. Each case means the VA has established that there's at least a 50 percent chance that the veteran's military service caused the ailment.

The awards are inconsistent, however. While a veteran in Wisconsin is offered payment, one in Florida with similar symptoms is denied. The VA doesn't keep track, and Flohr said this spring that he'd just learned about many of the successful appeals.

Legislation in the House of Representatives and Senate would establish presumptions between service connection and illnesses associated with the contamination, but those bills are still pending.

Although advocates are energized by recent VA benefits awards, a McClatchy review of some Veterans Affairs decisions shows that connections to the toxic water at Lejeune have been made in the past.

In 2002, for example, the agency granted a service connection to a veteran with cancer of the hard palate. The veteran, whose name is redacted, had served from 1982 to 1987 at Lejeune. His application was denied in 1995 and again in 1999.

After he sent in medical opinions about the contamination, an appeals board granted the service connection.

Another challenge for Veterans Affairs and federal scientists comes in deciding what diseases might have been caused by which chemical in the water.

For now, Flohr said the VA is trying to educate regional offices around the country. Last month, the agency sent a memo to its regional offices describing contamination of TCE and PCE.

The memo says there may be limited association between those chemicals and cancers of the kidney, breast, bladder, lung or esophagus.

The Veteran Affairs memo doesn't mention benzene, even though federal scientists said a year ago that benzene has emerged as a central suspect in the contamination. Benzene is a known carcinogen.

The distinction about which chemicals were present in the water is important, because they're associated with different diseases.

For years, Marine veteran Michael Schooler suspected that Agent Orange he was exposed to in Vietnam was responsible for his acute myoletic leukemia. Then McClatchy and other news outlets reported this year that benzene has had a far greater significance in the contamination than scientists had previously realized.

"I asked my doctor, 'Does benzene cause it?' " recalled Schooler, 61, of Jasper, Ind. "He lit up like a Christmas tree. He said, 'That's what causes it.'"

Schooler filed an appeal this spring. He expects to learn this month whether the VA will grant the service connection for benzene exposure.

In Massachusetts, Peter Devereaux also waits, drawing on the patience he learned while he was in the Marines.

"I'm terminal," he said. "Being a man, I only want to take care of my wife and daughter, like I always have."

FOR VETERANS WHO MIGHT BE AFFECTED

Veterans who think they might have been affected by contaminated water at Camp Lejeune can apply for service connection health benefits from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. You can apply by filling out VA Form 21-526, Veterans Application for Compensation and/or Pension.

The VA recommends that if you have any of the following material, please attach it to your application:

•Discharge or separation papers (DD214 or equivalent)

•Dependency records (marriage & children's birth certificates)

•Medical evidence (doctor & hospital reports)

Veterans who have applied for benefits related to water contamination at Camp Lejeune say they strongly recommend a medical nexus letter from a doctor.

For more information, contact your local VA office or your local veterans service organization, or go online to http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/

The Marine Corps also has a website about the Lejeune contamination, https://clnr.hqi.usmc.mil/clwater/

A group of Marine veterans and affected family members has a website on the issue, The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten, www.tftptf.com

ON THE WEB

Department of Veterans Affairs fact sheet on Camp Lejeune water contamination

Department of Veterans Affairs benefits website

"The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten: Camp Lejeune Toxic Water"

Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water

About Camp Lejeune

MORE FROM MCCLATCHY

Congress pushes military to release data on Camp Lejeune water

Warnings about Lejeune's tainted water unheeded for years

Lejeune water probe: Did Marine Corps hide benzene data?

Judge: Lejeune ex-resident can move ahead with injury claim

Marine base's residents, many ill, only now learning of toxic water

Toxins in Camp Lejeune water 30 years ago still a problem

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/20/96093/va-quietly-giving-benefits-to.html#ixzz1TM5dN3lR

 

 

 Film about Camp Lejeune's Toxic Water to Debut at NY Festival

Barbara Barrett | McClatchy Newspapers
 March 07, 2011 03:29:59 PM

WASHINGTON — A documentary about the historic water contamination at the Marines' Camp Lejeune, N.C., will have its world premiere this spring at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

"Semper Fi: Always Faithful" tracks the evolution of Marine veteran Jerry Ensminger into an environmentalist after his young daughter, Janey, died of leukemia in 1985.

Ensminger, a former drill instructor from White Lake, N.C., helped uncover voluminous details about the extent of contamination that poisoned the drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune for decades. A million people are thought to have been exposed to the water. Thousands, like Ensminger, suspect that the poisons caused the illnesses that they and their family members have suffered.

The movie's directors, Rachel Libert and Tony Hardmon, have spent at least two years working on the film.

Tribeca announced Monday that "Semper Fi" will be among a dozen films in its world documentary competition. The movie festival takes place from April 20 to May 1.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/07/109949/film-about-camp-lejeunes-toxic.html

 

 

 

IF you or any member of your immediate family were stationed, worked, or stayed at Camp Lejeune, N. Carolina between 1957 and 1987…

 

YOU WERE EXPOSED TO CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER

 

FILE YOUR CLAIM !

 

All claims to be processed at the Louisville RO.

 

It has been determined and ruled that the drinking water WAS contaminated from 1957 through 1987 and ALL PERSONS residing or working at Camp Lejeune were potentially exposed to the toxic water.

 

Toxins found were:

  benzene, vinyl chloride, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE).

 

++++++++TEXT OF THE RELEASE+++++++++++++++++

 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Veterans Benefits Administration

Washington, D.C. 20420

January 11, 2011

Director (00/21)
In Reply Refer To: 211A

All VA Regional Offices and Centers
Fast Letter 11-03

SUBJ: Consolidation and Processing of Disability Claims Based on Exposure to Contaminated Drinking Water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Purpose

The purpose of this letter is to inform all Regional Offices and Centers (ROs) that all disability claims and appeals based on exposure to contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, will be processed at the Louisville RO. This includes claims currently under appeal located at the Appeals Management Center (AMC), Pension Management Centers (PMCs), and Appeals Resource Centers (ARCs). All Camp Lejeune-related claims associated with paperless claims folders will remain at the Winston-Salem and Salt Lake ROs. This letter will describe procedures for transferring cases to the Louisville RO and guidance for processing these claims.

Background

From 1957 through 1987, persons residing or working at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were potentially exposed to drinking water contaminated with volatile organic compounds, including benzene, vinyl chloride, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE). Claims based on service at Camp Lejeune involve potentially complex issues of exposure and causation, and VA remains concerned about the potential for harmful effects associated with past exposure to the contaminated water supply. As the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which has been contracted by the Department of the Navy, continues to research the effects of exposure from this incident, VA must be prepared to evaluate claims based on such exposure in a consistent manner. By centralizing jurisdiction to the Louisville RO, VA enhances its ability to process these claims efficiently and consistently.

Training Letter 10-03 dated April 26, 2010, informed ROs of various environmental hazards, including the Camp Lejeune incident, and provided specific guidance on handling claims based on exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The training letter guidance remains in effect and should be referenced along with this fast letter when adjudicating these types of claims.

Actions by Office of Original Jurisdiction (OOJ)

Effective immediately, all claims folders with pending claims or appeals based on water contamination at Camp Lejeune will be Permanently Transferred Out (PTOed) to the Louisville RO. This includes claims and/or appeals from the AMC, PMCs, and ARCs, if they include at least one Camp Lejeune-related issue. Pending claims are to be identified by the MAP-D special issue, “Environmental Hazard – Camp Lejeune.” Do not transfer claims where no disability is specifically alleged, e.g. a claim stating “Camp Lejeune” or “exposure at Camp Lejeune”. Follow the procedures in M21-1MR Part I, Chapter 1, Section B.3. If a disability is subsequently identified, then the claims folder is to be PTOed to Louisville. Additionally, do not transfer claims alleging disability of dependents, including birth defects, as VA has no statutory authority to compensate dependents of Veterans exposed to the water contamination. These claims are to be processed under the procedures at Part III, Subpart ii, Chapter 7.2.b.

Claims received prior to installation of the special issue identifier in MAP-D in October 2010 cannot be identified through VETSNET Operations Reports (VOR). For this reason, all employees should be on the alert for these cases including appeals from previous denials based on Camp Lejeune water contamination.

Take no further actions on existing claims or appeals prior to PTOing the file, unless non-Camp Lejeune issues associated with the file can be resolved immediately, (e.g., GAP an Award and release letter).

Backfile the enclosed FLASH notice in the center section of the claims folder prior to shipment. See Enclosure A.

The OOJ will notify the claimant that his or her claims folder is being transferred to the Louisville RO. The enclosed letter is to be used for this purpose. See Enclosure B.

Continue the end product controlling the Camp Lejeune issue and any other claimed issues when the claims folder is PTOed.

For all future Camp Lejeune-related claims, the OOJ will establish the appropriate end product and immediately PTO the claims folder to the Louisville RO. Do not initiate development of these cases prior to transfer. Also, applications for benefits that do not meet the requirements of a substantially complete claim should not be PTOed, (i.e., those applications that do not identify an actual claimed condition as a result of exposure to the water contamination) .

The Louisville RO has established a separate PO Box for all corresponding mail. Send all mail that needs to be associated with a Camp Lejeune claims folder to the following address (This PO Box address is also provided to claimants in the attached notification of transfer letter):

Department of Veterans Affairs

Louisville Regional Office

ATTN: CLCW Team

PO Box 2648

Louisville, KY 40201-2648

Actions by Louisville RO

Following receipt of claims folders, the Louisville RO will update COVERS and conduct a comprehensive review of the case to determine what actions are required. All actions should be taken expeditiously. When it is necessary to send the claimant a VCAA notice letter, include language requesting the dates of service for the Veteran at Camp Lejeune, (i.e., month and year of arrival and departure), and where the Veteran lived (on-base or off-base) and worked on base. Autotext the request for this information into the notice letter.

Compensation and Pension (C&P) Service recently developed an “Environmental Hazard – Camp Lejeune” special issue under the MAP-D contentions screen. It is imperative that all claimed issues based on the Camp Lejeune incident are correctly identified using this specific MAP-D special issue. To ensure
conditions are identified on the coded rating conclusion, a special issue for RBA 2000 will be installed in the February 2011 coordinated install.

When processing Camp Lejeune claims, a Corporate “Camp Lejeune” Flash should be placed on every Veteran’s record with verified service at Camp Lejeune during any period between 1957 and 1987.

Establish EP 685 in addition to the standard EP for all Camp Lejeune contaminated water appeals.

The Louisville RO will assume responsibility for processing all pending issues and appeals (including both Camp Lejeune and non-Camp Lejeune claims and appeals) until all Camp Lejeune-related issues are finalized and the folder is PTOed back to the OOJ. For purposes of this fast letter, a finalized claim is one in which a decision has been completed and no appeal has been received within the one-year appeal period. The Louisville RO will assume jurisdiction for any appeals received on Camp Lejeune claims and all other non-Camp Lejeune claims and/or appeals received during the one-year
appeal period.

Because a special issue identifier for Camp Lejeune conditions cannot be immediately added to RBA 2000, the Louisville RO is to establish a database containing the following information on all completed Camp Lejeune cases:

§ Claim number

§ OOJ (RO Station Number)

§ Decision date

§ Specific claimed conditions due to exposure to contaminated drinking water

§ Diagnostic code

§ Whether the condition(s) was granted or denied

§ Percentage assigned

§ If denied, state reason (e.g., no exposure, no current disability, no
nexus)

Claims Processing Policies and Procedures

Training Letter 10-03 provides guidance on handling claims for disabilities potentially resulting from exposure to drinking water contamination at Camp Lejeune. C&P Service is currently drafting a new training letter specific to the Camp Lejeune exposure that will provide updated guidance.

It is imperative that VA examination and medical opinion requests include a discussion of the facts and circumstances surrounding the claim. The Camp Lejeune fact sheet must accompany the claims folder to the VHA facility.
Any details such as date, location, and length of time on Camp Lejeune, medical, occupational, and environmental exposure history, and any other pertinent facts, should be made available to the examiner. Any noteworthy evidence should be brought to the examiner’s attention by including it in the remarks section of the examination request and flagging the appropriate item in the claims folder.

C&P Service provided training to the Louisville RO Staff on December 21, 2010, to ensure consistency of application of Training Letter 10-03 and to address other concerns as needed.

The Veterans Health Administration leadership will ensure clinicians receive training and guidance on conducting C&P examinations and rendering medical opinions for disabilities based on exposure to water contamination at Camp Lejeune.

Questions

If you have questions concerning this fast letter, please submit to:
VAVBAWAS/CO/ 211/ENVIRO.

Points of Contact at the Louisville RO are:

Primary POC: Laura Kuerzi-Rogers, VSCM

Technical POC: Ellen Bauer, DRO

The Office of Field Operations POC is: Adam Kinder

/S/

Thomas J. Murphy

Director

Compensation and Pension Service

 

 

(All herein are personal opinion, I am not a licensed Doctor or Lawyer.)

Gary Kendall: disabled USAF Veteran; Constitutionalist; Veterans'/citizens' rights activist; US recognized, legally declared Sovereign, independent entity.

"For any/all Corporate Agents/informants/investigators et. al. working in collusion, monitoring my mail and any other communications without my permission."
"I sui juris, domiciled in the republics of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Oregon, Idaho - or any place in which I may be - a National American Sovereign neutral non-combatant by law, declare to all Corporate combatant FEDERAL and/or STATE Agents and/or 3rd parties that I am not a Corporation and/or UNITED STATES/STATE Created Fiction and I am accepting all Oaths and Affirmations declared Under Penalties of Perjury "so help me God" and returning any/all actions from the same being brought/sought against me for want of Geographical Jurisdiction and Venue."

 

__._,_.___

The Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Informational Meeting was held on November 6, 2010, in Pittsburgh, PA. Speakers for this meeting were

Master Sergeant

Jerry Ensminger (Retired) and Mike Partain.  Both are members of The Few the Proud the Forgotten (TFTPTF). This is only a synopsis of that meeting.

The web page and complete time line are available at WWW.TFTPTF.COM.  At the bottom of the web page is the registration address for the USMC site. All documentation can be reviewed and copied for those that need it for VA claims by clicking on the reference pages in the timeline.  You may also contact Master Sergeant Ensminger or Mike Partain through e-mail on the site for further questions.

Master Sergeant Ensminger presented information on the logistics of the base and the location of the contamination in regards to the potable water wells. A diagram of the wells in Tarawa Terrace (TT) and the contamination plume that was calculated from reports in 1997 data was provided.  He also presented the beginning of the time line of the contamination and his personal experience with the contamination issues.

It was noted that well TT26 were most likely contaminated from 1957 to 1987 by ABC One Hour Cleaner, which was located across the highway from Tarawa Terrace.  It was documented that the well in question was located in a down gradient from ABC Cleaners, Glamorama dry cleaners, auto repair shops, and gas stations. There was documented dumping of waste water into the septic system as well as dumping of solid waste behind the building, both containing Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) from ABC Dry Cleaners. In January of 1985 TT26 tested 1580 parts per billion (ppb) of PCE. Acceptable levels according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are less than or equal to 5ppb.

 

Mike Partain presented information about prenatal problems, most notably the increased still born deaths and miscarriages during the years of 1957 to 1984. He also told us that there was a direct correlation between male breast cancer and leukemia with live childbirth at Camp Lejeune during this time frame. In addition he described common skin and allergy condition that all children from this time frame have been complaining of, notably allergic reactions to Tide Detergent products as well as dry cleaning.

 

Information about the contamination of the water at Hadnot Point (HP) was discussed. The water plant at this location serviced the base hospital. Berkley Housing was also supplied by this plant until 1972. At that time a separate plant was constructed to service Berkley Housing and other areas including the golf course. However, due to the smaller size of the plant, when the golf course was watered, all potable water was used and intermittent use of the HP plant was employed to supply the potable water for the housing.   This situation was later corrected and non-potable water was then used to water the golf course.

 

Well 651 was installed in 1971 adjacent to lot 203 to supply water to HP. Lot 203 was a well-established base Defense Reutilization Management Office lot… in other words the junk yard for the base.

 

The contaminates found in the water for HP well 651when it was tested on Feb 4, 1985 were: 400ppb of PCE; 18900ppb of Trichloroethylene (TCE); 7580ppb of Dichlororethylne (DCE); and 168 ppb Vinyl Chloride.

 

It is also documented that wells in this area were contaminated from leakage from the fuel farm located at HP. It was reported initially that there was only 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of fuel that leaked into the area. It was later discovered that that number was grossly understated as the number was 1.1 million gallons of fuel leakage.

 

In 1966 a day care facility was opened at the base on the site of the former pest control shop. In 1984 a report of soil samples from in and around the area, including the fenced in play area, showed high levels of pesticides.

 

In 1984 Benzene was first tested for in the water. It was found in well HP602. The well was taken off line in November of 1984. The original test was done in July. No explanation for the delay was offered.

 

The last area discussed was the registered hazardous material dump near the Rifle Range. This was established in 1953. An interview with a former civilian employee revealed that there were light blue unmarked containers buried on the site. He went on to describe the precautionary equipment including rubberized padding on the forklifts, gas masks, hooded jackets and gauntlets. Ironically the wells that were tested in this area were closed down immediately on learning of contamination with some of the very same contaminates in the other wells previously mentioned when found in 1972.

 

We were informed that there is to be a study of mortality done for active service men and women from 1974 and onward only due to records being computerized at that time. A morbidity survey is to be conducted most likely with those that registered on the web site given by the USMC and that it was necessary that each member of the family register separately. Questions regarding members that were deceased due to cancers were raised and we were told we should register them as well. It was also noted that a new report is due to come out later this year or early next year.

Respectfully submitted,

Christina M. Miller