Veterans express frustration to VA over Camp Lejeune benefits
Tampa Bay Times
William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
Saturday, December 5, 2015
"You're not helping us, you're hurting us. The more you delay, the more of us who are going to die. And we thank you very much for that." said Camp Lejeune veteran Paul Maslow, 64, of Daytona Beach, who said he has inoperable tumors on his spine and elsewhere in his body.ZACK WITTMAN TimesTAMPA — Robert Shuster of Hudson stood up Saturday at a public meeting with the Department of Veterans Affairs and federal scientists studying the health effects of polluted drinking at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Camp Lejeune veterans and community members listen to epidemiologists discuss tainted water at the base during a panel hosted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
He held up two pieces of paper. One was the surgical pathology report Shuster sent to the VA that diagnosed him with sarcoma. The other document was a letter from the VA denying his claim for benefits, saying in stilted language the disease did not exist in him — he didn't have a malignancy.
"How can it not exist?" Shuster, 54, asked plaintively.
About 150 Marine Corps veterans and family members crowded a room at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay for a town hall meeting to hear VA officials and federal scientists provide an update on work studying contamination at the North Carolina base.
The VA representatives heard great frustration from veterans about their difficulties in getting the agency to provide benefits for those who were sickened by the water.
Up to a million veterans were exposed to what scientists consider one of the nation's worst episodes of water contamination. Drinking water at the base was tainted with a stew of industrial solvents and components of gasoline for at least 30 years ending in the 1980s.
Tens of thousands of those veterans and their family members now live in Florida, the state with the second-highest number of potential victims behind North Carolina, federal figures show.
read more here
Showing posts with label contaminated military base. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contaminated military base. Show all posts
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Veterans Still Waiting For Justice from VA After Camp Lejeune
No one gave Camp Lejeune Marines justice in the 80's, or the 90's or in the last decade. They knew serving this country as a Marine could be hazardous to their health if they deployed but they never thought it would be more dangerous just to live there.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Fort Carson On Roster of Contaminated Army Bases
Hundreds of pounds of depleted uranium likely buried at Fort Carson, Army says
The Gazette
By: Tom Roeder
Published: October 18, 2015
Depleted uranium, as much as 600 pounds, is thought to be in the ground at several sites from training shells fired in a 1960s classified program to give soldiers a nuclear- tipped bazooka called the Davy Crockett, according to Army documents. The training rounds were smaller spotting shells to train crews on the use of the atomic weapon without the big boom and a mushroom cloud. The Davy Crockett was never fired in combat.
Since discovering the uranium munitions in Hawaii in 2005, the service has done 10 years of detective work to figure out which bases participated in the testing program.
read more here
The Gazette
By: Tom Roeder
Published: October 18, 2015
The Army says 12,405 acres may have been contaminated during the Davy Crockett days. Fort Carson is joined on the roster by installations in Hawaii, Washington state, Georgia, Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and California.
The Davy Crockett weapon in this undated Army photo featured a 51-pound warhead that packed a nuclear punch. To train with the weapon and aim it in combat, troops used a 1-pound spotting round made from depleted uranium. An estimated 1,400 depleted uranium rounds were fired at Fort Carson.The Cold War legacy of nuclear waste at Fort Carson was quietly exposed in a routine application by the Army for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission permit to leave uranium buried on the post.
Depleted uranium, as much as 600 pounds, is thought to be in the ground at several sites from training shells fired in a 1960s classified program to give soldiers a nuclear- tipped bazooka called the Davy Crockett, according to Army documents. The training rounds were smaller spotting shells to train crews on the use of the atomic weapon without the big boom and a mushroom cloud. The Davy Crockett was never fired in combat.
Since discovering the uranium munitions in Hawaii in 2005, the service has done 10 years of detective work to figure out which bases participated in the testing program.
read more here
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Camp Lejeune Marines to Get Presumptive Status
New disability guidelines for Camp Lejeune Marines affected by toxic tap water
ABC 12 News
By Valentina Wilson
POSTED:Aug 04 2015
The Department of Veterans affairs will begin reviewing the disability status of Marines affected by toxic tap water at Camp Lejeune. Marines were exposed to tainted drinking water on base for more than 30 years -- from 1953 to 1987 -- and developed cancers and other conditions.
The VA already provides medical care for affected Marines with 15 different illnesses. Now the agency will establish presumptive status for veterans who lived on base during the time the water was contaminated. That means if veterans have a disease that falls under any of the approved categories, they'll get the benefit of the doubt instead of having to prove the water on base caused the problem.
The commander of the Disabled American Veterans chapter in Jacksonville, Jim Davis, said the bottom line is -- more veterans could qualify for benefits.
"What it will do is allow the veterans who were denied before -- due to it not being service connected or not enough proof -- to, if it falls under one of the presumptive diseases, they'll be allowed to apply and get approved for benefits," Davis said.
read more here
ABC 12 News
By Valentina Wilson
POSTED:Aug 04 2015
The Department of Veterans affairs will begin reviewing the disability status of Marines affected by toxic tap water at Camp Lejeune. Marines were exposed to tainted drinking water on base for more than 30 years -- from 1953 to 1987 -- and developed cancers and other conditions.
The VA already provides medical care for affected Marines with 15 different illnesses. Now the agency will establish presumptive status for veterans who lived on base during the time the water was contaminated. That means if veterans have a disease that falls under any of the approved categories, they'll get the benefit of the doubt instead of having to prove the water on base caused the problem.
The commander of the Disabled American Veterans chapter in Jacksonville, Jim Davis, said the bottom line is -- more veterans could qualify for benefits.
"What it will do is allow the veterans who were denied before -- due to it not being service connected or not enough proof -- to, if it falls under one of the presumptive diseases, they'll be allowed to apply and get approved for benefits," Davis said.
read more here
Monday, March 23, 2015
Camp Lejeune Contamination Victims Include Thousands in Florida
Thousands in Florida potential victims of Marine camp contamination
Orlando Sentinel
By Elyssa Cherney
March 21, 2015
Christina Peach's parents welcomed a seemingly healthy baby into the world in 1975 at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Camp Lejeune, the North Carolina base where her father was stationed as a Marine sergeant.
Seven years later, a chemical consulting company found that water from the emergency-room sink contained 1,400 parts per billion of trichloroethylene — 280 times its regulatory limit for drinking water today — which "has been reported to produce liver and kidney damage and central nervous system disturbances in humans," according to a memo from Grainger Laboratories in 1982.
Peach, 39, who now lives in Mount Dora, believes the water she was exposed to in utero and as an infant is responsible for the kidney cancer she developed last year and for her father's premature death.
Doctors discovered the mass growing on her right kidney when she got a CT scan for appendicitis in January 2014. Her father, Michael Hightower, 61, died 10 months later from lung cancer that had spread to his brain, bladder and bones, she said.
read more here
Orlando Sentinel
By Elyssa Cherney
March 21, 2015
Christina Peach, 39, was diagnosed with stage 1 kidney cancer last year. Peach, who was born on the Marine base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, attributes her illness to contaminated groundwater she may have consumed while living nearby in 1975. Her father , Michael Hightower also died
(Tom Benitez, Orlando Sentinel)
Christina Peach's parents welcomed a seemingly healthy baby into the world in 1975 at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Camp Lejeune, the North Carolina base where her father was stationed as a Marine sergeant.
Seven years later, a chemical consulting company found that water from the emergency-room sink contained 1,400 parts per billion of trichloroethylene — 280 times its regulatory limit for drinking water today — which "has been reported to produce liver and kidney damage and central nervous system disturbances in humans," according to a memo from Grainger Laboratories in 1982.
Peach, 39, who now lives in Mount Dora, believes the water she was exposed to in utero and as an infant is responsible for the kidney cancer she developed last year and for her father's premature death.
Doctors discovered the mass growing on her right kidney when she got a CT scan for appendicitis in January 2014. Her father, Michael Hightower, 61, died 10 months later from lung cancer that had spread to his brain, bladder and bones, she said.
read more here
Saturday, November 1, 2014
VA to begin compensating family members of Camp Lejeune
VA vows to pay families sickened after exposure to Lejeune water
News Observer
BY MARTHA QUILLIN
October 31, 2014
Despite promises by the Department of Veterans Affairs, critics of the agency say they don’t trust it to help Marine Corps family members exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune because the VA is still fumbling the cases of sickened veterans two years after Congress ordered they be treated for free or at low cost.
The VA announced last week that it’s ready to begin compensating family members for the out-of-pocket costs they have incurred since March 2013 for 15 medical conditions associated with exposure to chemicals that entered the drinking water at the Eastern North Carolina military base. The Marine Corps has said the water was contaminated with more than a dozen chemicals, including known carcinogens, between 1957 and 1987.
The military has said that between 750,000 and 1 million people – veterans, family members and civilian workers – may have been exposed to contaminated water before the tainted sources were shut down.
read more here
News Observer
BY MARTHA QUILLIN
October 31, 2014
Despite promises by the Department of Veterans Affairs, critics of the agency say they don’t trust it to help Marine Corps family members exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune because the VA is still fumbling the cases of sickened veterans two years after Congress ordered they be treated for free or at low cost.
The VA announced last week that it’s ready to begin compensating family members for the out-of-pocket costs they have incurred since March 2013 for 15 medical conditions associated with exposure to chemicals that entered the drinking water at the Eastern North Carolina military base. The Marine Corps has said the water was contaminated with more than a dozen chemicals, including known carcinogens, between 1957 and 1987.
The military has said that between 750,000 and 1 million people – veterans, family members and civilian workers – may have been exposed to contaminated water before the tainted sources were shut down.
read more here
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Fort McClellan Veterans Sick and Dying From Toxic Exposures
Sick veterans who served at shuttered, toxic Army base turn to Congress, VA for help
FoxNews.com
By Barnini Chakraborty
Published September 19, 2014
WASHINGTON – Sue Frasier spent the first six months of her military career at Alabama's Fort McClellan. But that short stint -- 44 years ago at an Army base the EPA later would find so toxic it would shut it down -- was all it took for her to start getting sick, she says.
Her problems began shortly after completing boot camp in 1970 at the Anniston, Ala., base. Today, she says she's coping with asthma, a life-threatening gastrointestinal disease that required surgery, and fibromyalgia that results in long-term pain and tenderness in her joints and muscles.
"It hurts everywhere, but at least I can still walk and talk," she told FoxNews.com.
Frasier is among thousands of veterans who were stationed at the former Army base who believe they were exposed to dangerous polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. They repeatedly have turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs for help, seeking aid for medical treatment and a formal study of their ailments -- but say their pleas have been largely ignored or buried in red tape for decades. Today, they're looking to fresh leadership at the VA, and allies in Congress, to finally take on their case.
The true cause of the veterans' ailments has never been officially determined. Fort McClellan housed several Army components, including a division for chemical weapons training and research. But many veterans suspect they were sickened by chemicals dumped near Anniston by Monsanto Co., which had facilities in the area and disposed of chemicals near the base.
FoxNews.com
By Barnini Chakraborty
Published September 19, 2014
WASHINGTON – Sue Frasier spent the first six months of her military career at Alabama's Fort McClellan. But that short stint -- 44 years ago at an Army base the EPA later would find so toxic it would shut it down -- was all it took for her to start getting sick, she says.
Her problems began shortly after completing boot camp in 1970 at the Anniston, Ala., base. Today, she says she's coping with asthma, a life-threatening gastrointestinal disease that required surgery, and fibromyalgia that results in long-term pain and tenderness in her joints and muscles.
"It hurts everywhere, but at least I can still walk and talk," she told FoxNews.com.
Frasier is among thousands of veterans who were stationed at the former Army base who believe they were exposed to dangerous polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. They repeatedly have turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs for help, seeking aid for medical treatment and a formal study of their ailments -- but say their pleas have been largely ignored or buried in red tape for decades. Today, they're looking to fresh leadership at the VA, and allies in Congress, to finally take on their case.
The true cause of the veterans' ailments has never been officially determined. Fort McClellan housed several Army components, including a division for chemical weapons training and research. But many veterans suspect they were sickened by chemicals dumped near Anniston by Monsanto Co., which had facilities in the area and disposed of chemicals near the base.
Two pieces of legislation have been introduced to deal with the veterans' medical claims. A proposed Senate bill would establish a national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions of the descendants of veterans exposed to toxic substances during service in the Armed Forces. The bill has not advanced.
Over on the House side, a bill more specific to Frasier and similar veterans' claims, and backed by Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., would require the VA to create a registry of everyone who served at Fort McClellan from 1935 to 1999. It then would require the department to reach out to those veterans and offer health exams and information about the effects of toxic exposure. It also would open up disability payments to the veterans.
The House bill, though, has been stuck in congressional gridlock for five years and hasn't made its way out of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
read more here
Friday, April 18, 2014
Operation Red Dragonfly Veteran Health Outreach Mission
American Legion Post #1 Supports Veteran Health Motorcycle Outreach Mission
Salem-News.com
Portland Veterans support our annual ride to help educate Veterans.
(PORTLAND) - The American Legion Post #1 in Portland made a generous donation to Operation Red Dragonfly, Salem-News.com's Veteran Health Outreach Mission that is taking place for the second year in a row.
Salem-News.com editor Tim King will traverse the nation, giving talks about critical life and death issues affecting Veterans, their families, and all Americans.
In the video below, recorded Wednesday night in Portland at the American Legion Hall on SE 122nd, Tim gives examples of what his talks are about.
read more here
Apr 17, 2014
The American Legion Post #1 in Portland made a generous donation to Operation Red Dragonfly, Salem-News.com's Veteran Health Outreach Mission that is taking place for the second year in a row. Salem-News.com editor Tim King will traverse the nation, giving talks about critical life and death issues affecting Veterans, their families, and all Americans.
In the video below, recorded Wednesday night in Portland at the American Legion Hall on SE 122nd, Tim gives examples of what his talks are about, the objectives including sharing information about deadly toxic base contamination, raising awareness of existing and developing answers for those who suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, with an emphasis on lowering the rate of Veteran suicide, and other issues that have heavy impacts on the Veteran population in America, including Agent Orange, and the effects that toxin has on the children of Vietnam Veterans.
Salem-News.com
Portland Veterans support our annual ride to help educate Veterans.
(PORTLAND) - The American Legion Post #1 in Portland made a generous donation to Operation Red Dragonfly, Salem-News.com's Veteran Health Outreach Mission that is taking place for the second year in a row.
Salem-News.com editor Tim King will traverse the nation, giving talks about critical life and death issues affecting Veterans, their families, and all Americans.
In the video below, recorded Wednesday night in Portland at the American Legion Hall on SE 122nd, Tim gives examples of what his talks are about.
read more here
Apr 17, 2014
The American Legion Post #1 in Portland made a generous donation to Operation Red Dragonfly, Salem-News.com's Veteran Health Outreach Mission that is taking place for the second year in a row. Salem-News.com editor Tim King will traverse the nation, giving talks about critical life and death issues affecting Veterans, their families, and all Americans.
In the video below, recorded Wednesday night in Portland at the American Legion Hall on SE 122nd, Tim gives examples of what his talks are about, the objectives including sharing information about deadly toxic base contamination, raising awareness of existing and developing answers for those who suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, with an emphasis on lowering the rate of Veteran suicide, and other issues that have heavy impacts on the Veteran population in America, including Agent Orange, and the effects that toxin has on the children of Vietnam Veterans.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Survivors of Camp Lejeune`s toxic water share their stories
Survivors of Camp Lejeune`s toxic water share their stories
VIDEO
VIDEO
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Camp Lejeune ex-Marine dying after exposures
Ruben Rosario: Ex-Marine in a fight for her life after Camp Lejeune exposure
Twin Cities
By Ruben Rosario
POSTED: 02/01/2014
Theresa Clark has Stage 4 breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body.
Although she hasn't been given a definite prognosis, the 54-year-old Marine veteran from Elko was informed recently that there is no treatment that will reverse her condition. She now has a four-hour chemotherapy session every third week in the hope that the cancer will be kept at bay in some manner.
"I am basically dying," she told me last week.
Clark, a married mother of two who is also a grandmother, strongly believes her cancer is a direct result of exposure to toxins during the 1980s when she was stationed at USMC Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
"There is no doubt in my mind," she said. "I have no family history of it." She is hardly alone in her belief.
Up to 1 million Marine veterans, family members and others living or working at the base between 1957 and 1987 drank, showered and cooked with water contaminated by toxins linked to a variety of cancers and birth defects.
read more here
Twin Cities
By Ruben Rosario
POSTED: 02/01/2014
Clark is among 2,282 Minnesotans and 230,918 other former Camp Lejeune residents across the nation, Puerto Rico and other regions notified so far of the water contamination by the military through letters or other communications.
Theresa Clark has Stage 4 breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body.
Although she hasn't been given a definite prognosis, the 54-year-old Marine veteran from Elko was informed recently that there is no treatment that will reverse her condition. She now has a four-hour chemotherapy session every third week in the hope that the cancer will be kept at bay in some manner.
"I am basically dying," she told me last week.
Clark, a married mother of two who is also a grandmother, strongly believes her cancer is a direct result of exposure to toxins during the 1980s when she was stationed at USMC Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
"There is no doubt in my mind," she said. "I have no family history of it." She is hardly alone in her belief.
Up to 1 million Marine veterans, family members and others living or working at the base between 1957 and 1987 drank, showered and cooked with water contaminated by toxins linked to a variety of cancers and birth defects.
read more here
Friday, December 6, 2013
Camp Lejeune Marine won battle with VA but lost life to cancer
Marine who won VA battle dies in Sarasota
Herald Tribune
By Thomas Becnel
Published: Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Tom Gervasi, a veteran who won his protracted disability claim fight with the government over the rare cancer he contracted during his service, died Tuesday at home in Sarasota.
He was 77.
While serving in the Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in 1956, Gervasi was exposed to contaminated water that caused breast cancer, which rarely affects men. For the last decade, he fought with the government over medical coverage for him and other veterans.
After repeated denials, he finally received a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs in April confirming that the contaminated water had in fact caused his cancer.
The Rochester, N.Y. native, a former police officer and homicide investigator, is survived by his wife Elaine, four children and seven grandchildren.
“He was a fighter, I’m telling you, you wouldn’t believe it,” Elaine Gervasi said Wednesday. “He was concerned about other people who had the same affliction. He was fighting to help them.”
read more here
Herald Tribune
By Thomas Becnel
Published: Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Tom Gervasi, a veteran who won his protracted disability claim fight with the government over the rare cancer he contracted during his service, died Tuesday at home in Sarasota.
He was 77.
While serving in the Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in 1956, Gervasi was exposed to contaminated water that caused breast cancer, which rarely affects men. For the last decade, he fought with the government over medical coverage for him and other veterans.
After repeated denials, he finally received a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs in April confirming that the contaminated water had in fact caused his cancer.
The Rochester, N.Y. native, a former police officer and homicide investigator, is survived by his wife Elaine, four children and seven grandchildren.
“He was a fighter, I’m telling you, you wouldn’t believe it,” Elaine Gervasi said Wednesday. “He was concerned about other people who had the same affliction. He was fighting to help them.”
read more here
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Camp Lejeune contamination controversy continues as Marines suffer
Flap Continues over Lejeune Health Assessment
Associated Press
by Allen G. Breed
Aug 19, 2013
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and congressmen is urging the Centers for Disease Control to complete a new, comprehensive report on the health effects of toxic tap water at the Camp Lejeune Marine base.
The lawmakers also want the agency to investigate whether people were exposed to airborne toxins inside buildings after contaminated wells at the North Carolina base were closed in 1985. And they asked the agency to look into the feasibility of a "cancer incidence study" for Lejeune.
The four senators and two representatives were reacting to news that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR, a division of the CDC, intends to issue a less comprehensive report than the one it released in 1997. The original public health assessment was withdrawn four years ago because of incomplete data.
They said they also are concerned the agency will ignore "the potential for harmful exposures via inhalation" in the decade and a half after contaminated wells at the coastal North Carolina base were taken off line.
The Aug. 9 letter to CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden was signed by U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan of North Carolina; Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson of Florida; and U.S. Reps. Dennis Ross of Florida and John Dingell of Michigan.
read more here
Associated Press
by Allen G. Breed
Aug 19, 2013
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and congressmen is urging the Centers for Disease Control to complete a new, comprehensive report on the health effects of toxic tap water at the Camp Lejeune Marine base.
The lawmakers also want the agency to investigate whether people were exposed to airborne toxins inside buildings after contaminated wells at the North Carolina base were closed in 1985. And they asked the agency to look into the feasibility of a "cancer incidence study" for Lejeune.
The four senators and two representatives were reacting to news that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR, a division of the CDC, intends to issue a less comprehensive report than the one it released in 1997. The original public health assessment was withdrawn four years ago because of incomplete data.
They said they also are concerned the agency will ignore "the potential for harmful exposures via inhalation" in the decade and a half after contaminated wells at the coastal North Carolina base were taken off line.
The Aug. 9 letter to CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden was signed by U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan of North Carolina; Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson of Florida; and U.S. Reps. Dennis Ross of Florida and John Dingell of Michigan.
read more here
Monday, June 3, 2013
Baby Death Certificates from Camp Lejeune 2,500
Baby Death Certificates from Camp Lejeune 2,500 during 30 years of contamination
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Marine who dumped toxins felt illness was payback
Marine who dumped toxins felt illness was payback
May 18, 2013
USA Today
Ron Poirier, marine who dumped toxins onto the ground, felt cancer was payback for contributing to the worst drinking water contamination in the country's history.
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Ron Poirier couldn't escape the feeling that his cancer was somehow a punishment.
As a young Marine electronics technician at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts man figured he'd dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic solvents onto the ground. It would be decades before he realized that he had unknowingly contributed to the worst drinking water contamination in the country's history — and, perhaps, to his own premature death.
"It's just a terrible thing," the 58-year-old veteran told the Associated Press shortly before succumbing to esophageal cancer at a Cape Cod nursing facility on May 3.
"Once I found out, it's like, 'God! I added to the contamination.'"
The cancer that killed Poirier is one of more than a dozen diseases and conditions with recognized links to a toxic soup brewing beneath the sprawling coastal base between the 1950s and mid-1980s, when officials finally ordered tainted drinking-water wells closed. As many as a million Marines, family members and civilian employees are believed to have been exposed to several cancer-causing chemicals.
read more here
May 18, 2013
USA Today
Ron Poirier, marine who dumped toxins onto the ground, felt cancer was payback for contributing to the worst drinking water contamination in the country's history.
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — Ron Poirier couldn't escape the feeling that his cancer was somehow a punishment.
As a young Marine electronics technician at Camp Lejeune in the mid-1970s, the Massachusetts man figured he'd dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic solvents onto the ground. It would be decades before he realized that he had unknowingly contributed to the worst drinking water contamination in the country's history — and, perhaps, to his own premature death.
"It's just a terrible thing," the 58-year-old veteran told the Associated Press shortly before succumbing to esophageal cancer at a Cape Cod nursing facility on May 3.
"Once I found out, it's like, 'God! I added to the contamination.'"
The cancer that killed Poirier is one of more than a dozen diseases and conditions with recognized links to a toxic soup brewing beneath the sprawling coastal base between the 1950s and mid-1980s, when officials finally ordered tainted drinking-water wells closed. As many as a million Marines, family members and civilian employees are believed to have been exposed to several cancer-causing chemicals.
read more here
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Former Camp Lejeune Marine wins fight with VA over cancer
Former Marine wins fight with VA over cancer
By Donna Koehn
Published: Saturday, April 13, 2013
SARASOTA - An exuberant Tom Gervasi, 76, put his arms in the air, his fingers forming a “V for Victory.”
The former Marine learned Saturday — to his utter surprise — that his long, often bitter fight with his own government is done.
A letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed it: The cancer invading his bones was caused by his exposure to contaminated water as a young Marine at Camp Lejeune.
Tom is dying of breast cancer, so rare in men that only one in 1,000 will develop it in his lifetime.
The tale of his struggle, chockablock with emotional highs and lows, began when Elaine, his wife of 57 years, first spotted an unusual dimpling in Tom's left breast as he stood shirtless back in 2003.
read more here
By Donna Koehn
Published: Saturday, April 13, 2013
SARASOTA - An exuberant Tom Gervasi, 76, put his arms in the air, his fingers forming a “V for Victory.”
The former Marine learned Saturday — to his utter surprise — that his long, often bitter fight with his own government is done.
A letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed it: The cancer invading his bones was caused by his exposure to contaminated water as a young Marine at Camp Lejeune.
Tom is dying of breast cancer, so rare in men that only one in 1,000 will develop it in his lifetime.
The tale of his struggle, chockablock with emotional highs and lows, began when Elaine, his wife of 57 years, first spotted an unusual dimpling in Tom's left breast as he stood shirtless back in 2003.
read more here
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Camp Lejeune's Marine families may have to wait longer
Camp Lejeune's water woes keep growing worse
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 26, 2013
Evidence of one of the worst cases of drinking water contamination in American history continues to build at Camp Lejeune. So, unfortunately, does the record of disastrous responses by federal authorities.
In August, President Barack Obama signed a bill to open up more health care resources for an estimated 1 million Marines and family members exposed to carcinogens at the base in Jacksonville, N.C., during a 30-year period ending in 1987.
But officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs now say it may take until next year, or even early 2015, before the law is fully implemented.
In the meantime, it appears the VA is doing little to accelerate benefit claims; since December 2010, the department has rejected 75 percent of the 1,483 veterans who've sought benefits.
News of the delay arrives amid a new study showing that the contamination began earlier than previously thought. Drinking water from wells tainted by leaking fuel tanks and an off-base dry cleaner have been linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems.
read more here
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 26, 2013
Evidence of one of the worst cases of drinking water contamination in American history continues to build at Camp Lejeune. So, unfortunately, does the record of disastrous responses by federal authorities.
In August, President Barack Obama signed a bill to open up more health care resources for an estimated 1 million Marines and family members exposed to carcinogens at the base in Jacksonville, N.C., during a 30-year period ending in 1987.
But officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs now say it may take until next year, or even early 2015, before the law is fully implemented.
In the meantime, it appears the VA is doing little to accelerate benefit claims; since December 2010, the department has rejected 75 percent of the 1,483 veterans who've sought benefits.
News of the delay arrives amid a new study showing that the contamination began earlier than previously thought. Drinking water from wells tainted by leaking fuel tanks and an off-base dry cleaner have been linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems.
read more here
Friday, March 15, 2013
Camp Lejeune contamination may go back to 1948!
Contamination at NC Marine base lasted up to 60 years
By Maggie Fox, Senior Writer
NBC News
Some of the wells that supplied drinking water to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were contaminated by cancer-causing solvents for as long as 60 years, a new federal report shows.
Month-by-month calculations show that Marines and their families at the base drank and bathed in water that may have been tainted with trichloroethylene (TCE) from 1948 through 2008. Other water sources were contaminated with benzene from 1951 to 2008, the report shows.
Federal officials have known for years that the base’s water supply was badly contaminated, from fuel leaks and probably from a dry-cleaning plant as well.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million people were exposed to the contaminated water from 1953 to 1987, when the last of several contaminated wells were closed. The new report takes the potential estimates back five years earlier.
"It is possible," Dr. Christopher Portier, director of the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, told NBC News. But he says he believes it more likely the contamination began in 1953, as previously estimated.
read more here
By Maggie Fox, Senior Writer
NBC News
Some of the wells that supplied drinking water to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina were contaminated by cancer-causing solvents for as long as 60 years, a new federal report shows.
Month-by-month calculations show that Marines and their families at the base drank and bathed in water that may have been tainted with trichloroethylene (TCE) from 1948 through 2008. Other water sources were contaminated with benzene from 1951 to 2008, the report shows.
Federal officials have known for years that the base’s water supply was badly contaminated, from fuel leaks and probably from a dry-cleaning plant as well.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million people were exposed to the contaminated water from 1953 to 1987, when the last of several contaminated wells were closed. The new report takes the potential estimates back five years earlier.
"It is possible," Dr. Christopher Portier, director of the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, told NBC News. But he says he believes it more likely the contamination began in 1953, as previously estimated.
read more here
Sunday, March 3, 2013
When the military kills you how do you know?
When the military kills you how do you know?
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
March 3, 2013
When Irish died in Washington DC, a shockwave went out across the country but unless you were paying attention to what was going on and what this woman was doing to try to fix the way female veterans, as well as males, were treated, then you wouldn't have known. This is a copy of the testimony she gave.
September 14, 2006 Before the VA Disability Commission in Washington, DC It wasn't the first time she went to Washington and it wouldn't be here last. That came in 2008.
This is just part of what she said in 2006
Most people were shocked when they heard about Camp Lejeune and the contamination. Unfortunately friends of mine are very upset because they didn't know some of the bases they were on were also contaminated.
How could they know? It isn't as if the mainstream media has had time to report on any of this. After all, they have too many other news stories to cover like a murder trial of a sports star in South Africa along with every other topic that should only get about a couple of seconds worth of coverage, if that much. But we have our 24-7 news shows now? People were a lot more informed when they had less because the news stations we had way back did more with the time they did have.
There is a conversation going on about Fort McClellan and a friend of mine that served there. She didn't know it was contaminated. Now she's shocked no one told her or how she could have ended up with the health problems she has had for years. It turns out she served on two bases that have been found to be contaminated.
This site has been up for a long time, so it isn't as if it was a huge secret as long as people were searching for it.
Blue Water Navy Veterans
The problem is, most people rely on the media to tell them and assume if it is an important story, they will stay with it. Ha, ha, ha. As if that has happened in a long time. Anyway, while I'm sure we're going to get every detail about the trial in South Africa and be treated to endless hours of England's Queen in the hospital, our veterans will be shoved aside.
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
March 3, 2013
When Irish died in Washington DC, a shockwave went out across the country but unless you were paying attention to what was going on and what this woman was doing to try to fix the way female veterans, as well as males, were treated, then you wouldn't have known. This is a copy of the testimony she gave.
September 14, 2006 Before the VA Disability Commission in Washington, DC It wasn't the first time she went to Washington and it wouldn't be here last. That came in 2008.
This is just part of what she said in 2006
I wish to address the VA's hierarchy’s constant, immoral and intentional denial of service connected compensation and entitlements to veterans exposed to these chemical agents and total disregard to the regulations pertaining to this exposure. And to their widows/widowers and most of all the innocent, who bear our service, the children and grandchildren who die from Agent Orange or those who lived and bear the scars of their parents or grandparents service. The Agent Orange babies. I am one of those Agent Orange ( Dioxin) victims, service connected, who have been denied entitlements, medical care and compensation. Diagnosed at Walter Reed Medical Hospital, on active duty, source of exposure identified as Fort McClellan, Alabama. Fort Ritchie, Maryland and Fort Drum, NY have also been identified as Agent Orange sites and I have served on these Installations also. I have had this poison of multiple chemical exposure, including Agent Orange, in my body since I was 20 years old and I will be 56 years old next month.Capt. Agnes "Irish" Bresnahan.
Jun 16, 2009 My sister was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with Full Military Honors yesterday Monday 15,2009. I would like to thank you for your support for my family and ask that you pray for all the vets and active duty servicemen especially my nephew, Matt Gatley who was deployed the day before the funeral of his aunt. I would like to personally thank Chris Abel of Rainbow whose actions allowed me to attend my sisters funeral. All the best to you and yours, sincerely , Jim Bresnahan
Most people were shocked when they heard about Camp Lejeune and the contamination. Unfortunately friends of mine are very upset because they didn't know some of the bases they were on were also contaminated.
How could they know? It isn't as if the mainstream media has had time to report on any of this. After all, they have too many other news stories to cover like a murder trial of a sports star in South Africa along with every other topic that should only get about a couple of seconds worth of coverage, if that much. But we have our 24-7 news shows now? People were a lot more informed when they had less because the news stations we had way back did more with the time they did have.
There is a conversation going on about Fort McClellan and a friend of mine that served there. She didn't know it was contaminated. Now she's shocked no one told her or how she could have ended up with the health problems she has had for years. It turns out she served on two bases that have been found to be contaminated.
This site has been up for a long time, so it isn't as if it was a huge secret as long as people were searching for it.
Blue Water Navy Veterans
The problem is, most people rely on the media to tell them and assume if it is an important story, they will stay with it. Ha, ha, ha. As if that has happened in a long time. Anyway, while I'm sure we're going to get every detail about the trial in South Africa and be treated to endless hours of England's Queen in the hospital, our veterans will be shoved aside.
The following 59 U.S. military bases were suffering from significant water or soil contamination a year ago, according to the Department of Defense's interpretation of its latest hazardous waste survey. DoD officials say not every base suffering such contamination is on the list, because information was not available for all bases. The list is based on the latest status report for DoD's Installation Restoration Program.Here's the list of bases. Go to the link to read about them.
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MDI miss my friend very much. I think she'd be very ashamed knowing after all of her years of dedication fighting for justice, not just for herself, but for all veterans, has resulted in veterans still not knowing that while the enemy didn't kill them, the military may have.
Fort A.P. Hill, VA
Fort Belvoir, VA
Fort Devens, MA
Fort Dix, NJ
Fort Lewis, WA
Fort McClellan, AL
Redstone Arsenal, AL
Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Center, NJ
Moffett Field NAS, CA
Whidbey Island NAS, WA
China Lake, CA
Indian Head NOS, MD
Jacksonville NAS, FL
Miramar NAS, CA
Pabmont River NAS, MD
Roosevelt Roads NS, Puerto Rico
Castle AFB, CA
Dover AFB, DE
Griffiss AFB, NY
Hill AFB, UT
Mather AFB, CA
McChord AFB, WA
McClellan AFB, CA
Norton AFB, CA
Robins AFB, GA
Tinker AFB, OK
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
Saturday, February 23, 2013
NBC Rock Center focus on contaminated water at Camp Lejeune
I watched this last night and was not shocked because of how many times I posted on this but I was happy to see it being the topic of national news coverage.
Men say their breast cancer was caused by contaminated water at Camp Lejeuneread more here
Fri Feb 22, 2013
By Ami Schmitz and Kristina Krohn
Rock Center
Mike Partain got the shock of his life five years ago when he was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 39. That he got breast cancer at all is surprising. It's so rare that for every 100 women who get it, just one man will.
“Five years ago I was just an ordinary father of four, husband of 18 years. And one night, my then-wife gave me a hug and she felt a bump on my chest,” he said in an interview with Dr. Nancy Snyderman airing tonight at 10pm/9CT on NBC News’ Rock Center with Brian Williams.
When his doctor delivered the devastating news in a phone call, Partain’s first thought was, “What contest in hell did I win to deserve this?”
After his diagnosis, Partain was desperate to answer the question, “why”? He said, “I don't drink. I don't smoke. I've never done drugs. There is no history of breast cancer in my family.”
But everything changed after he saw a news report, where a former Marine drill instructor named Jerry Ensminger told Congress how his 9-year-old daughter Janey died of leukemia, and that he believed her death was caused by drinking water at Camp Lejeune contaminated with chemicals.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Marine veteran, former boxer, battling male breast cancer
Marine veteran, former boxer, battling breast cancer
By CHERYL LECESSE
The Salem News
Published: October 31, 2012
PEABODY, Mass. — Peter Devereaux didn’t even know men could get breast cancer.
So when his doctor called to give him the news, Devereaux thought he had called him by mistake.
“I said, ‘Doc, it’s Peter Devereaux,’” he said, thinking his doctor would apologize and hang up.
He didn’t, and within days Devereaux was back at the hospital, getting a bone scan and chest X-ray to see how far the cancer had spread within his body.
A Peabody native and North Andover resident, Devereaux, 50, was diagnosed with stage 3B invasive ductal carcinoma in January 2008. For the past 4½ years, he has been battling the disease, which doctors discovered had spread to his hips, ribs and spine in 2009.
He is one of 82 men who have been diagnosed with male breast cancer believed to have been caused by water contamination at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.
“It’s the largest cluster ever recorded,” Devereaux said.
read more here
By CHERYL LECESSE
The Salem News
Published: October 31, 2012
PEABODY, Mass. — Peter Devereaux didn’t even know men could get breast cancer.
So when his doctor called to give him the news, Devereaux thought he had called him by mistake.
“I said, ‘Doc, it’s Peter Devereaux,’” he said, thinking his doctor would apologize and hang up.
He didn’t, and within days Devereaux was back at the hospital, getting a bone scan and chest X-ray to see how far the cancer had spread within his body.
A Peabody native and North Andover resident, Devereaux, 50, was diagnosed with stage 3B invasive ductal carcinoma in January 2008. For the past 4½ years, he has been battling the disease, which doctors discovered had spread to his hips, ribs and spine in 2009.
He is one of 82 men who have been diagnosed with male breast cancer believed to have been caused by water contamination at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina.
“It’s the largest cluster ever recorded,” Devereaux said.
read more here
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Army investigate contamination at Forest Glen Annex
Community, Army investigate contamination at Forest Glen Annex
The Gazette
Restoration Advisory Board to meet Oct. 18
By Kara Rose And Sylvia Carignan
Staff Writers
Carroll McKown, a 27-year Navy veteran, said what her Silver Spring neighbors don’t know about the Forest Glen Annex might hurt them.
Waste dating back to the 1940s by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center could be on the military installation’s site — and the community is hoping to find out just what is buried there.
Six sites on the annex have been identified as areas for review, including three landfills, a car wash area, the site of an oil leak and a streambed contaminated with suspected carcinogens.
McKown has owned her Silver Spring home since 1978. She said most of her neighbors don’t know the history of the annex. Health concerns, stemming from the landfills, worry her the most.
“This has got to be corrected so we do not have a health problem and contamination of the area,” McKown said. “Of course, this has to be done by people who know the engineering aspects of this and how to do it well.”
read more here
The Gazette
Restoration Advisory Board to meet Oct. 18
By Kara Rose And Sylvia Carignan
Staff Writers
Carroll McKown, a 27-year Navy veteran, said what her Silver Spring neighbors don’t know about the Forest Glen Annex might hurt them.
Waste dating back to the 1940s by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center could be on the military installation’s site — and the community is hoping to find out just what is buried there.
Six sites on the annex have been identified as areas for review, including three landfills, a car wash area, the site of an oil leak and a streambed contaminated with suspected carcinogens.
McKown has owned her Silver Spring home since 1978. She said most of her neighbors don’t know the history of the annex. Health concerns, stemming from the landfills, worry her the most.
“This has got to be corrected so we do not have a health problem and contamination of the area,” McKown said. “Of course, this has to be done by people who know the engineering aspects of this and how to do it well.”
read more here
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