EPA Superfunds: Veterans at Risk

Veterans and their dependents are unaware of the risk of exposure to contaminants and health effects for bases on the EPA National Priority List (Superfund).

Old El Toro Marine base

(SOMERDALE, N.J.) - The Pentagon owns 133 Superfund sites, the most of any organization. Veterans and dependents were exposed to contaminants at these sites, including carcinogens like TCE, PCE, benzene and radiation.

The Defense Authorization Bill for 2008 required the Pentagon to notify Camp Lejeune veterans, but only after the death of children from TCE contaminated wells. Except for Camp Lejeune, there's no legal requirement to notify veterans of the other 132 Superfund sites.

Camp Lejeune’s Water Contamination

Former Senator Elizabeth Dole was instrumental in requiring the Navy and Marine Corps to notify residents who may have been exposed to contaminated water at the Camp Lejeune.

An estimated on million people at Camp Lejeune may have been exposed to contaminated drinking water.

“Senator Elizabeth Dole, along with four of her colleagues, today introduced legislation to help protect our most susceptible populations, such as pregnant women, infants and children, against the negative health impacts of drinking water contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), a chemical commonly used in degreasing agents, paint and spot removers and adhesives,” according to a press release of August 1, 2007.

The amendment introduced by Dole and signed into law in the 2007 Defense Authorization Act required the Secretary of the Navy to notify those who may have been affected by the contaminated wells starting in 1958.

Bezene and Missing Documents

On May 13, 2009, the Camp Lejeune story took another twist when Senators Kay Hagan and Richard Burr of North Carolina requested a meeting with the Acting Secretary of the Navy the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment.

According the Senators Hagan and Burr, “new information [that] has surfaced regarding human exposure to volatile organic compounds in Camp Lejeune’s drinking water. This information calls into serious question the validity of the 1997 Public Health Assessment (PHA)…one of our constituents and his advocacy group found progress reports undertaken by a Department of the Navy (DON)-hired contractor in 1984 that showed high levels of benzene in an operating well…this finding was not previously made public not provided to ATSDR. We note that ATSDR omitted benzene from its 1997 PHA…this finding is one of the reasons ATSDR retracted the water contamination portion of its 1997 PHA…it has also come to our attention that the DON and the United States Marine Corps did not provide certain documents to ATSDR or the public until 2007.”

Other Military Sites

It’s unlikely that Congress will require DOD to take special steps to notify veterans and their dependents of the contaminants and health effects at other military sites on the EPA Superfund list.

Public service announcements of the contaminants and the health effects would be a relatively inexpensive way to communicate to veterans. However, don’t bet on DOD undertaking this type of effort.

In fact, EPA has an internet website which shows all of the contaminants and heath effects for all military bases and sites on the EPA National Priority List (Superfund).

Veteran Service Organizations

Part of the mission of Veteran Service Organization (VSOs) is to keep their membership informed of issues important to them and their families. Nothing could be more important than you and your family’s ill.

The American Legion, the VFW, the Marine Corps League and other VSOs have the resources to notify their memberships of the contaminants and health effects of military base on the EPA Superfund list. There’s no indications of an organized attempt by VSOs to spread the word to their membership. The result is that veterans and their dependents are on their own.

Imagine for a moment that you are one of the thousands of veterans who served at bases now on the EPA Superfund list.

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. The Supreme Court’s FERES doctrine prevents any veteran from filing a tort suit, even when an injury occurs from government negligence.

VA disability compensation is available, if you “connect the dots” of illness to military service. Even when the “dots are connected,” the veteran will be required to obtain a nexus statement from a physician linking the medical condition to military service. The veteran’s physician may be hesitant to sign a nexus statement and unsure about the correct legal terminology to use.

Independent Medical Evaluations (IMEs) are available, but can be expensive. A telephone call to a California doctor showed that the cost of a VA nexus opinion started at $3,000 and could go higher, depending upon the amount of documentation to review.

EPA's Military Superfund Sites

EPA has identified the Contaminants of Concern at each Superfund site. According to EPA, “The chemical substances (i.e., hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants) listed below were identified as contaminants of concern (COC) for the site. COCs are the chemical substances found at the site that the EPA has determined pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment. These are the substances that are addressed by cleanup actions at the site.”

“Identifying COCs is a process where the EPA identifies people and ecological resources that could be exposed to contamination found at the site, determines the amount and type of contaminants present, and identifies the possible negative human health or ecological effects that could result from contact with the contaminants” according to the EPA website.

For a complete listing of sites, please visit the story on Veterans Today Newsletter

Special thanks: Veterans Today Newsletter