The Veterans Benefits Administration published the final rule in the Federal Register providing a presumptive service connection for diseases associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on January 13, 2017. The regulation, 38 C.F.R. §3.307 and §3.309(f), will become effective on March 14, 2017.
Under the new rule veterans with a minimum of 30 days of service at Camp Lejeune between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987 will be presumed to have been exposed to contaminated water. The Veterans Benefits Administration will concede service connection for eight diseases as a result of this exposure.
- Kidney Cancer
- Liver Cancer
- Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
- Adult Leukemia
- Multiple Myeloma
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Aplastic anemia and other myelodyspatic syndromes
- Bladder Cancer
There are thousands of veterans whom have filed claims for service connection for these conditions. The Regional Office in Louisville, Kentucky was selected to process these claims and appeals in October of 2010. Many of these claims were put on hold and will now begin to be processed when the rule becomes law on March 14, 2017.
The Veterans Healthcare Administration has been treating Camp Lejeune veterans for the following conditions since August of 2012 when the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act was signed into law:
- Esophageal cancer
- Breast cancer
- Renal toxicity
- Bladder cancer
- Female infertility
- Scleroderma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Leukemia
- Myelodysplastic syndromes
- Hepatic steatosis
- Miscarriage
- Neurobehavioral effects
- Kidney cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Lung cancer
The drinking water systems at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were contaminated with industrial chemicals. The contamination occurred due to improper disposal and storage of these chemicals leaked into the water supply from sources both off and on the base. These chemicals, or volatile organic compounds, VOCS, have been proven to cause severe health risks and in a recent studies have provided enough evidence that the VA has begun to provide healthcare and benefits to the service members who were exposed.
Any veteran who served at Camp Lejeune and has any condition that they believe to be directly related to or aggravated by this exposure should file a claim as soon as possible. If these claims are denied the veteran should seek the assistance of a qualified attorney.
