VA Boosts Process for Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Claims

Claims will be consolidated at one office that will focus on the contaminated water issues.

(SALEM, Ore.) - McClatchy Newspapers released an important story last December for Marine Corps Camp Lejeune veterans and their families potentially affected by the deadly contaminated water used there for generations.

It's good news; veterans have waited a long time for the government to acknowledge the reality of so many health nightmares. Claims have slowly been approved, steadily, further establishing the reality of Camp Lejeune's deadly cancer-causing water.

The growing amount of public awareness over the dangers of the North Carolina base's water and the fact that Marine Corps' officials were caught in the falsification of reports of Benzene levels connected to the Hadnot Point fuel storage area, led to more questions from public officials.

Under pressure from media and politicians in the state of North Carolina, the Defense Department is having to come clean and step up to the plate of responsibility that they have tried very hard to avoid. The Marine Corps and the Dept. of the Navy had previously acknowledged that the water was causing problems, and they blamed it on PCE (perchloroethylene) from an off-base dry cleaner.

Then, the Department of Defense assembled a panel of scientists and they shocked Marine families by announcing that all previous research connecting Camp Lejeune's water to the various illnesses was null and void, no good, kaput. Our article at the time, National Research Council on TCE Kicks U.S. Marines to the Curb, essentially screamed over the ridiculous turn of events.

Learn more from: WaterSurvivors.com

As time passed, the revelation of the Benzene lies surfaced; the NRC (National Research Council) findings were demonstrated to be without merit, and any hope the Corps had of being able to maintain the lie vanished like think air; transparency induction.

The Department of Veterans Affairs stated in the December McClatchy article, that they will begin training a specialized cadre of workers to handle the increasing number of disability claims related to Camp Lejeune.

Claims will be consolidated at one office in Louisville, Kentucky. where 8 employees will focus on the contaminated water claims.

I want to note that our primary focus at Salem-News.com since the summer of 2008 has actually been on the contamination of the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in what is now, Irvine, California. This base, an EPA 'Superfund Site', is now closed and it was slated to be redeveloped into a housing community and a park for Orange County. Amazingly, the park aspect is still technically in the planning and development stages, even though over $200 million in dedicated taxpayer funds have mysteriously disappeared.

The bottom line is that even meager gestures from the government toward Camp Lejeune veterans, are yet to be seen in any way, shape or form by El Toro veterans. Those of us who served there strongly resent this. For this reason Salem-News.com writer Robert O'Dowd along with myself and other Marine Veteran writers on our staff like David Bedworth, consistently try to raise the awareness level by generating reports on this very serious subject.

In her article, Barbara Barrett with McClatchy Newspapers suggests that the development is significant to Marine veterans across the country suffering from cancers and other diseases believed to be connected to the poisonous chemicals in Camp Lejeune's water from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s.

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

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.

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.

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):

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:

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.

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
Enclosures

The links below should be all or close to all Salem-News.com stories to date regarding the water problems at Camp Lejeune. If you are looking for an article to circulate or blog, this is a good one as a good deal of time when into generating the stories available via the links below:

___________________________________________________

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer
Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.
Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 65 Salem-News.com writers. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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frank height June 4, 2015 5:22 pm (Pacific time)
when will I get my settlement, being waiting for years, still trying to get my health care, and conpersation, someone need to help,I being sending paperwork for years, finded out they was not putting in computer,I have many Illness, myeloma, bone cancer, prostate removal, cancer back, someone out there help me, in Jesus name. Someone help
Rick Capeloto August 28, 2012 5:49 pm (Pacific time)
Tim,after being sick for 35 years and not knowing why, I was called to do an interview on my military record involving the Nuclear Ordnance Platoon and the Cryptographic Communications and my Top Secret clearances at 19 yrs old. I was told about the water and your expose' on El Toro got me looking into it and I got 100% I.U. and at least now I know why Ive been so ill for all these years.Tim, we had words and I come to find out that you have been instrumental in going after these bastards that lied to us for 50 years. Hats off to ya Mr. Tim, you are the King.
TIM April 10, 2011 11:45 am (Pacific time)
I AM A MARINE THROUGH and THROUGH. I GRADUATED TOPS IN CORPS SCHOOL AND HAD MY CHOICE IN WHERE I COULD SERVE. I CHOSE THE CORPS. WHY? I HAVE A VERY DECORATED UNCLE IN VIETNAM WHO STEPPED ON A LAND MINE AND A CORPSMEN SAVED HIS LIFE. I KNEW I WANTED TO BE PART OF A TEAM WHERE THEY ALL PULLED TOGETHER AND WOULD GIVE THEIR LIVES FOR EACH OTHER ON AND OFF THE FIELD OF BATTLE AND LIFE. I WAS THE ONLY NAVY CORPSMEN TO PLAY AND START AS MIDDLE LINE-BACKER ON THE BASE FOOTBALL TEAM. NEEDLESS TO SAY I LOVE BEING A MARINE AT HEART AND I AM BLESSED BY MY NAVY TRAINING. SEMPER FI MY BROTHER TIM....JIM MORELAND PA-C, MHS...HM2
Tim King: Thanks for dropping by brother, Semper fi.
JIM MORELAND HM2, PA-C, MHS March 29, 2011 3:01 am (Pacific time)
TIM

THANKS YOU FOR KEEPING THE STORY ALIVE. I HAVE APPLIED AND I AM AWAITING THE VA'S DECISION ON MY CASE. I WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL PA OWNING 2 CLINICS WHEN I WAS STRICKEN WITH LUPUS, SJOGRENS, RAYNAUDS, FIBROMYALGIA, ENDOCRINE FAILURES, CYTOPENIAS AND THE LIST IS LONG. IF IT WERE NOT FOR MY BROTHER A RETIRED NAVAL OFFICER I WOULD HAVE NEVER KNOWN ABOUT THE WATER CONTAMINATION AT CAMP LEJEUNE IN THE EARLY 70'S. MY TREATING PHYSICIANS AND I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT THERE HAD TO BE A CATASTROPHIC EVENT THAT CAUSED MY HEALTH ISSUES WHICH ALL APPEARED WITHIN A YEAR OF THE PRIMARY DIAGNOSIS OF LUPUS. THE MORE RESEARCH I DO THE MORE I AM CONVINCED THAT THESE CHEMICALS HAVE AFFECTED MANY OF US WHO SERVED OUR COUNTRY AT CAMP LEJEUNE. IT IS ONLY BY PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO KEEP THIS STORY ALIVE THAT WE ARE WERE WE ARE AT (FINALLY LEGITIMATE IN THE US GOVERNMENTS EYES)GIVEN CONSIDERATION FOR OUR BENEFITS. I AM SURE THERE WILL BE A LONG FIGHT A HEAD OF ME AND ONE THAT I EAGERLY LOOK FORWARD IN FIGHTING FOR. JUST WANTED TO WRITE THIS MORNING AND SAY THANKS FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE AND AS A NAVY CORPSMEN I AM PROUD TO HAVE SERVED MY BROTHER MARINES.

SEMPER FI
JIM MORELAND HM2, PA-C, MHS
Tim King: Semper fi Jim, you mean Corpsmen aren't Marines? I have to remind myself, because as you said we are all Brothers. THANKS!.
Jim Hawkins--Carlsbad CA January 15, 2011 2:43 pm (Pacific time)
This news gives me hope.
I am the voice of one of the Marines who was stationed at Camp Lejeune (1973) and developed Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), aka “smoldering leukemia,” an incurable cancer that has a propensity to progress (it can take years, or happen overnight, you just never know) into Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). I am currently on chemotherapy twice a week for the duration of my life, and need my blood monitored weekly to make certain the progression to AML has not occurred, in which case I have 2-6 months to live as I am not a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. One of the primary causes of MDS, as well as all other forms of leukemia, is exposure to benzene.
I am not writing about my case, which fortunately for me is still with the pre-determination development team at VARO—San Diego and will, no doubt, be sent to Louisville in the immediate future
I am writing to acknowledge two heroes. Every story has a hero. There are two heroes to this story:
Tim King for actually being a Marine and bringing this horror story to the world. I, as one of the Camp Lejeune Water Contamination veterans, cannot thank you enough for your journalism. May you get a Pulitzer Prize someday soon.
The other hero is the Assistant Director of Policy, Compensation and Pension Service at the Veterans Benefits Administration—Bradley Flohr.
Why?
The Marine Corps instilled in me these virtues to live by—duty and honor above all else. Semper Fidelis, Always Faithful. Yet, the Marine Corps leadership shirked its role and responsibility for the water contamination. They abandoned us.
Bradley Flohr is the only official willing to ensure that the government is held accountable for this water contamination, which will ultimately kill me.
I do not know if Mr. Flohr was ever a Marine, or not; if not, I would make him an honorary one.
By his decision to centrally process all the Camp Lejeune Water Contamination claims in Louisville, and to have the VA recognize benzene as one of the main contaminants, he has displayed the courage, honor, and intestinal fortitude necessary to do the right thing for those of us who have served our country. He has led by example and action, a lesson that seems to have been lost by the upper echelon of the Corps. I cannot thank him and Tim King enough for their actions.
Congress tasked the Department of Defense and the Marine Corps in 2008 to contact every veteran who had been stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987 to inform them of the historic water contamination. Of the 1,000,000+ affected, only about 160,000 have signed up for the Registry; which means 84% of the total affected population was not informed. I was diagnosed with MDS in August 2008 and am being treated at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center, which is closely associated with the VA Medical Center, La Jolla. My hematologist contacted her peers and not one doctor in hematology/oncology ever heard about the Camp Lejeune water contamination and the possible medical implications, which is odd since the majority of these doctors also practice at VA Medical Center—La Jolla.
I was never informed about the water contamination, which would have been a simple matter if the Marine Corps had bothered to cross-reference social security numbers of everyone who had been stationed at Camp Lejeune with the IRS database and contacted them. Living in Carlsbad near Camp Pendleton, I know many former Marines who were stationed at Camp Lejeune during the affected time period. Not one of us was informed by the Marine Corps or DOD. They were just as shocked by the news as I. How many former Marines and their dependents will die from unusual cancers without ever knowing the reason why?
I find no evidence that due diligence was exercised in contacting us. I firmly believe the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and certainly the court of public opinion, would agree.
How did I find out about the water contamination and its connection to my cancer?
Pure coincidence.
I was watching the ABC Evening News in March 2010 when I saw the story about Paul Buckley finally winning his four-year case with the VA about his Multiple Myeloma (also an incurable cancer associated with the same group of cancers that I have) from the water contamination at Camp Lejeune. I was stunned. I had never heard of this before. I was also relieved because now I had the “smoking gun” so that I could get a NEXUS letter from my hematologist/oncologist and file my VA Disability Claim. I filed my claim in March 2010. As of December, when I last checked, my file was still with the Development Team in San Diego. Thank God!
Had I, and others in my similar circumstance, known about the Camp Lejeune water contamination and its relation to our cancers, we would have filed claims immediately (in my case, August 2008); then again, it is probably a good thing that we did not because the claims most likely would have been denied. An interesting Catch-22 dilemma, don’t you think?
I hope the VA will do the right thing and retroactively approve our claims from the DATE OF DIAGNOSIS (for those of us with provable cancer related to the Camp Lejeune Water Contamination) instead of the date that we file our claims. I know the VA rarely makes exceptions to the effective dates of claims, but I am still hopeful they will do the right thing. If not, I already have my VA-certified attorney lined up for the Appeal, and I intend to make a lot of very public noise about the injustice of this all.
If I could give the Louisville CLCW ratings specialists a message it would be this: It is difficult to walk this Planet Earth, knowing that you have been given an unintentional death sentence by the very military organization that you swore an oath to serve. No one expected this to happen, but it did. The clock is ticking for all of us, but it ticks more loudly for those of us with cancer. Your actions can make a difference. You can help make this right.
Bradley Flohr gives me hope that there is still honor, loyalty, and respect from our government for all veterans. I thank him, and Tim King, for all they have done and will continue to do on our behalf. I feel that we are not forgotten.
If you are one of the Camp Lejeune Water Contamination veterans, and you have developed an unusual disease or cancer that can be linked to exposure to benzene, PCE, TCE, or vinyl chloride, DO NOT HESITATE. File a claim now.
Cheers,
Jim Hawkins
Tim King: And you give me hope Jim, thanks so much for writing. I see you have the dubious honor of serving at one of these places and now living near the other, (heavy sigh) . If I can add a third party to the hero list it is you and the other Marines who are taking the steps within the system and keeping pressure up, and Barbara at McClatchy Newspapers. When we become disillusioned with mainstream media, they are a bright thought. Finally, for those who don't know, there is a doctor in Texas who discovered a non-toxic cure for cancer. Please send this link to people and make sure they know about Burzynski: The Burzynski Witchhunt: Curing Cancer, Saving American Lives, and Dodging Political Bullets - Tim King Salem-News.com Semper fi Jim!
nanebrown January 15, 2011 10:52 am (Pacific time)
Thank you Tim for keeping this story alive! I appreciate your very thorough and informative news article. I have a google alert watch on this topic to keep updated http://www.google.com/alerts and your article is most helpful.

I was stationed at Camp Lejeune in the 70's working as a Navy Nurse at the Hadnot Point hospital. It was long after I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at a young age (genetically negative), that I learned about the toxic drinking water and Camp Lejeune being an EPA Super Fund site.

You don’t hear much about Camp Lejeune’s female breast cancer survivors in the news. Nor are the Navy veteran survivors mentioned. I am guessing that is because we were a minority on this Marine base.

News about Camp Lejeune's drinking water does not often reach far across the country to the Pacific NW where I now live. Surprisingly, a VA doctor knew all about it when I went for an exam last fall. It is thanks to the re-telling of stories like this that continue to spread the word and help veterans who served at Camp Lejeune! Thanks again for this excellent article!
I've never met a Corpsman I didn't like, and you raise an extremely important point about female breast cancer. Male breast cancer is so unusual, but women should always be mentioned and never forgotten, same with all of the Navy personnel and the civilians who served on these bases. I would be interested in telling your story, if you were. What do you think? My email is tim@salem-news.com Thanks! Tim
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©2025 Salem-News.com. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Salem-News.com.

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VA Boosts Process for Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Claims

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