The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said in a recent regulation that it will compensate Marines suffering from health issues caused by tainted water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, payments fought for by U.S. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).
Burr and Tillis have advocated for compensation and health coverage for Marines suffering from diseases resulting from exposure to tainted water at Camp Lejeune from 1953-1987.
“It’s about time, these veterans put their lives on the line for our nation and they were negligently poisoned by the government,” Burr said. “We know that toxic water at Lejeune caused a host of debilitating medical conditions that service members are suffering and dying from. These men and women deserve this help.”
Under the rule, service members exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune who suffer from kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, adult leukemia, multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease, aplastic anemia or bladder cancer will automatically qualify for compensation.
“I applaud today’s announcement that the Department of Veterans Affairs has finalized the agency rule to grant disability benefits to service members who were exposed to contaminated drinking water while stationed at Camp Lejeune,” Tillis said. “These veterans have waited far too long, and I want to thank Sen. Burr, Jerry Ensminger (a retired Marine master sergeant), and the entire Camp Lejeune Community Assistance Panel for their tireless efforts to bring justice to these veterans and to make them whole once again.”
The VA estimates that more than 900,000 service members were exposed to well-water contaminated by human carcinogens at Camp Lejeune. Victims of the poisoned water were granted VA disability status in 2015.