Disability OK’d in 1 Lejeune water case - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Disability OK’d in 1 Lejeune water case

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Marines exposed for decades to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune are getting encouragement to pursue individual disability claims while they wait for Congress to extend Veterans Affairs health care services to everyone affected.

John Hartung of Waukesha, Wis., was awarded a 30-percent disability benefit from the Veterans Benefits Administration last month with help from a Web site devoted to aiding Marines and their families exposed to toxic drinking water, The Daily News of Jacksonville reported.

Water supplied to Camp Lejeune’s main family housing areas was contaminated by dry cleaning solvents and other sources from the 1950s to the 1980s. Health officials believe as many as 1 million people may have been exposed to the toxins trichloroethylene or perchloroethylene before the wells were closed 22 years ago.

Hartung’s doctor stated in a letter to veteran’s compensation board that Hartung’s ailments were more likely than not caused by exposure to toxic water.

“My doctors believe me 100 percent and are behind me 100 percent,” Hartung said.

Hartung learned about preparing such a “nexus letter” on a Web site run by Wilmington resident Terry Dyer, who lived on the base as a child. The site, which aims to help others who believe their medical problems can be linked to the water, includes a sample and instructions on how to write nexus letters.

Hartung said he “got sick right away” after was stationed at Camp Lejeune for six months in 1977, then developed large cysts on the back of his neck as well as chronic fatigue.

Hartung is one of what is likely a small number of veterans who have been granted disability benefits because of ties to the base, said Jerry Ensminger, a retired Marine master sergeant who lived at the base and now lobbies for legislation opening VA health care to all affected.

“Every case is different,” Ensminger said. “You’re not going to find a doctor who’s going to sign a letter for everybody for every type of ailment they have.”

Ensminger said trying to prove a case for health care individually is prohibitive for most veterans.

“What we’re trying to do with this legislation is to try to take these hoops and hurdles away from the people so they don’t have to deal with this stuff,” he said. “The only hurdle these people will have to clear is to prove they were at Camp Lejeune during the years of contamination.”

North Carolina’s congressional delegation has been active on behalf of the health claims of former Camp Lejeune residents.

The Senate passed legislation backed by Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., preventing the military from dismissing claims related to water contamination pending completion of two studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In July, Burr proposed a bill that would grant VA health care to all with links to the contaminated water. U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., is expected to introduce a companion bill in the House in coming weeks.

On Monday, Miller joined with Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and John Dingell, D-Mich., to urge Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to continue funding health studies related to the water contamination and to provide health care.