An Open Letter to President Obama

An Open Letter to President Obama About Veterans Exposed to Environmental Hazards.

(WASHINGTON. D.C.) - Dear President Obama: We know that you may have read and been briefed about individuals exposed to environmental hazards at Camp Lejeune. For Camp Lejeune, Senator Daniel Akaka (D, HI) estimated that as many as 500,000 veterans and dependents may have been exposed to organic solvents in the base’s water supply. In January 2010, Senator Akaka proposed an original bill to provide for health care for those exposed and harmed by environmental hazards at Camp Lejeune, Atsugi Naval Air Facility and other military installations.

As you may know, Senator Akaka’s bill (S.3378) was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar this month. This bill would also establish an advisory board with scientific expertise to make recommendations to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense for those who were exposed to environmental hazards at military installations.

The Congressional Budget Office reported that the Environmental Protection Agency noted that environmental contaminations are a widespread problem at current and former military installations. In fact, EPA’s National Priority List (Superfund List) includes 130 military installations, making the Defense Department by far the largest owner of Superfund sites.

The CBO estimated there are 50 million veterans and dependents lived or worked on military installations. An unknown number were exposed to environmental hazards.

There’s no legal requirement for the Federal government to notify veterans and their dependents of the potential environmental hazards and their health effects they may have been exposed to. Senator Akaka’s bill does not include any notification requirement.

Imagine for a moment that you are one of the millions of veterans who served at a base now on the EPA Superfund list. Like many veterans you now live far from your former military base, may not have access to the internet, have no contacts with former military friends, may be seriously ill, and unable to “connect the dots” of your illness to military service.

Unlike someone injured on the job, there is no workman compensation for a veteran to cover his or her medical expenses or even the possibility of filing a tort lawsuit for injuries. Based on a Supreme Court decision, veterans cannot file a lawsuit against the government.

Assuming that you are aware of the connection of your illness to military service, you can file a disability claim with the VA. The VA disability process may take years to settle.

Notification to veterans is the right thing to do. This should not require a huge expenditure of funds, only an earnest commitment to do it. Veteran Service Organizations can help spread the word to their memberships. EPA’s Superfund database lists the contaminants of concern (environmental hazards) for each military installation. VSOs need only alert their memberships to this valuable source of information.

There’s no good reason why veterans of Superfund sites should not be notified of the risk of potential exposure to environmental hazards and their health effects. Notification through the VSOs should not require legislation or an Executive Order.

The following is a list of the 130 military installations on the EPA Superfund list. From this list, the contaminants of concern identified by EPA. COCs are the chemical substances found at the site that the EPA has determined pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. The EPA database provides a link to the health effects of exposure to each COC.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you or your designee.

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Bob O’Dowd is a former U.S. Marine with thirty years of experience on the east coast as an auditor, accountant, and financial manager with the Federal government. Originally from Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 19, served in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Marine Aircraft Wings in 52 months of active duty in the 1960s. This subject is where Bob intersected with Salem-News.com. Bob served in the exact same Marine Aviation Squadron that Salem-News founder Tim King served in, twenty years earlier. With their combined on-site knowledge and research ability, Bob and Tim and a handful of other ex-Marines, have put the contamination of MCAS El Toro on the map. El Toro, a Superfund site, was closed in ’99, and most of the former base sold by the Navy at a public auction in ’05. The base is highly contaminated with organic solvents like trichloroethelyne (TCE) and other chemicals of concern. No veteran, dependent or civilian employee was informed of their possible exposure to toxic chemicals and their health effects. You can email Bob O’Dowd, Salem-News.com Environmental and Military Reporter, at this address: mwsg37.com. You can email Bob O’Dowd, Salem-News.com Environmental and Military Reporter, at this address: consults03@comcast.net