Toxic Exposure

Exposure to Contaminants in the Water Supply at Camp Lejeune

Are you a veteran, former reservist, or National Guard member who served for at least 30 days at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune or Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987? This would be defined as "qualifying service at Camp Lejeune."

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You may have been exposed to chemicals, including trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (PCE), benzene, and vinyl chloride in the water supply systems.

 

Scientific studies show a positive "relationship between exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune (in unknown quantities) and the subsequent development" of certain conditions. The following diseases are presumed service-connected due to qualifying service at Camp Lejeune:

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1. Kidney Cancer

2. Liver Cancer

3. Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

4. Adult Leukemia

5. Multiple Myeloma

6. Parkinson's Disease

7. Aplastic Anemia and other Myelodysplastic Syndromes

8. Bladder Cancer

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In order to prevail, the veteran will need to show:

1. The veteran had qualifying service at Camp Lejeune,

2. The veteran has a current diagnosis of one of the 8 enumerated diseases above, and 

3. The qualifying disease has manifested to a degree of 10 percent or more.

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Agent Orange Exposure

                                                                                                        There are two presumptions, which                                                                                                             assist a veteran when obtaining                                                                                                                   benefits from herbicide exposure, to                                                                                                           include Agent Orange. The first                                                                                                                   presumption allows the veteran to                                                                                                               argue that he or she was exposed to                                                                                                           Agent Orange based on when and                                                                                                               where he or she served. The second                                                                                                           presumption allows the veteran to                                                                                                               argue that a particular disease or                                                                                                                 cause of death is associated with the  Agent Orange exposure. 

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Which Diseases are Presumed with Agent Orange Exposure?

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• AL amyloidosis

• Chloracne or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne

• Type 2 diabetes (also known as Type II diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetes)

• Hodgkin's disease

• Ischemic heart disease (including, but not limited to, acute, subacute, and old myocardial infarction; atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease including coronary artery disease (including coronary spasm) and coronary bypass surgery; and stable, unstable and Prinzmetal's angina)

• All chronic B-cell leukemias (including, but not limited to, hairy-cell leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia)

• Multiple myeloma

• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

• Parkinson's disease

• Early-onset peripheral neuropathy

• Porphyria cutanea tarda

• Prostate cancer

• Respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea)

• Soft-tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothelioma)

  • Adult fibrosarcoma

  • Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans

  • Malignant fibrous histiocytoma

  • Liposarcoma

  • Leiomyosarcoma

  • Epithelioid leiomyosarcoma (malignant leiomyoblastoma)

  • Rhabdomyosarcoma

  • Ectomesenchymoma

  • Angiosarcoma (hemangiosarcoma and lymphangiosarcoma)

  • Proliferating (systemic) angioendotheliomatosis

  • Malignant glomus tumor

  • Malignant hemangiopericytoma

  • Synovial sarcoma (malignant synovioma)

  • Malignant giant cell tumor of tendon sheath

  • Malignant schwannoma, including malignant schwannoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation (malignant Triton tumor), glandular and epithelioid malignant schwannomas

  • Malignant mesenchymoma

  • Malignant granular cell tumor

  • Alveolar soft part sarcoma

  • Epithelioid sarcoma

  • Clear cell sarcoma of tendons and aponeuroses

  • Extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma

  • Congenital and infantile fibrosarcoma

  • Malignant ganglioneuroma​

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In addition to the above, your disease caused by Agent Orange may also cause secondary service connection. For example, if you are service-connected for Diabetes, Type II because of Agent Orange, but your Diabetes, Type II caused you arteriosclerosis, hypertension, or cataract, you should argue for service connection for those as well under secondary-service connection. 

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The Veterans Who May Qualify for the Agent Orange Presumption

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• Veterans who will most likely qualify - Vietnam era veterans between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975, some veterans who served along the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) between April 1, 1968 and August 31, 1971, and some Air Force veterans (primarily reservists) who worked on C-123 airplanes, which sprayed Agent Orange.

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• Veterans who may qualify - Air Force veterans who served at the Royal Thai Air Force Bases of UTapao, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, Udorn, Takhli, Korat, or Don Muang as security policemen, security patrol dog handlers, or members of a security police squadron, or otherwise served near a base perimeter, as shown by their military occupational specialty (MOS), daily work duties, performance evaluations, or other credible evidence. Army veterans who served on a Royal Thai Air Force Base who affirmatively state they were involved with perimeter security duty, but only if there is additional credible evidence supporting their statement. Veterans who served at a U.S. Army base in Thailand, were members of a military police unit or assigned a military police MOS, and who affirmatively state their duty placed them at or near the base perimeter.

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• Possible Agent Orange exposure areas, which require proof of actual exposure - Bushnell Army Airfield, Florida in 1945; Camp Detrick, Maryland from 1946 to 1951; Kingston, Rhode Island from 1949 to 1951; Brawley, California from 1950 to 1951; Avon Air Force Base, Florida in 1951; Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in 1952 and from 1962 to 1970; Avon Park Air Force Base, Florida in 1954; Las Mesas and La Jagua experimental areas at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in 1956; Guanica and Joyuda, Puerto Rico in 1956; Fort Drum, New York in 1959 (evidence indicates that herbicide agents were also used in 1961, between 1969 to 1978, and from the 1950s through the early 1970s); Fort Ritchie, Maryland in 1963; Thailand from 1964 to 1965; Replacement Training Center of the Royal Thai Army near Pranburi, Thailand in 1964 and 1965; Laos from December 1965 to 1967 (spraying operations); Loquillo, Puerto Rico in April and October 1966; Hilo, Hawaii in December 1966; Kauai, Hawaii in 1967 and February 1968; Las Marias, Puerto Rico from February to December 1967; Apalachicola National Forest near Sophoppy, Florida in May 1967; Fort Chaffee, Arkansas in May, July, and August 1967; Base Gagetown, near Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada in June 1967; Fort Gordon, Georgia in July 1967; the southeastern part of Kompong Cham Province and Dar and Prek Clong plantations, Cambodia in June 1969 (spraying operations); and Poole’s Island, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland in July 1969. Additionally, Agent Orange was stored in Gulfport, Mississippi from 1968 to 1970 and on Johnston Island from April 1972 to September 1977. 

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In order to prevail on an Agent Orange claim the veteran will need to show:

1. He or she was exposed to Agent Orange (either presumptively or actually),

2. He or she currently has or died from a disease, or residuals of a disease, recognized by the VA as being linked to Agent Orange exposure to a disabling degree of 10 percent or more, and

3. For some of the recognized non-cancer diseases, a third requirement is required to show that the disease manifested itself within one year from the last day of exposure to Agent Orange.

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Burn Pits in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Djibouti

The military created large burn piles or pits to dispose of serious environmental hazards during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2001 until the present. Veterans may have also been exposed to particulate matter via dust storms and emissions from local industries. 

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Chemical exposure may have included particulate matter, polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, and toxic organic halogenated dioxins and furans. These chemicals may cause respiratory, cardiopulmonary, neurological, autoimmune, and/or skin disorders.

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General concepts of service connection may apply to these cases. Contact me today if you feel like you have a disease or condition caused by burn pits. 

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Other Diseases and Other Toxic Exposures

The military tested a variety of chemicals on veterans, including mustard gas, Lewsite, nerve agents, and other chemicals.

 

Veterans might have been exposed to sulfur fire if he or she served at Mosul Airfield of Qayyarah Airfield West around June 24, 2003. 

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Veterans might have been exposed to hexavalent chromium if he or she served in the Army National Guard at Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant in Basrah, Iraq. 

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If any of these diseases or locations listed above are familiar to you and your service, please give me a call so that we can determine if you are owed benefits. 

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