thedrifter
07-19-09, 07:19 AM
Camp Lejeune vet presses contaminated water case
Green Bay man has skin cancer
By Patti Zarling • pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com • July 19, 2009
A local veteran is disappointed that the federal government denied his medical claims for treatment for a rare form of skin cancer he believes was linked to contaminated water he drank on base.
Allen Menard of Green Bay, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., from 1981 to 1984, also is frustrated that a recent study determined there's no direct proof that toxins in water at the camp caused health problems in people stationed there.
But that doesn't mean Menard is giving up.
"This is just like Agent Orange during (the Vietnam War), we're just fighting and fighting," he said. "… I was hoping for a more favorable thing, but we'll keep pushing."
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, recently sent a letter to the Veterans Affairs Department urging officials to consider Menard's appeal.
Military officials said they don't comment on individual claims.
On a larger scale, the Natural Resource Council recently determined tainted water at Camp Lejeune between the 1950s and 1985 cannot definitively be linked to health problems.
"A lot of scientists are on the payroll of chemical companies," Menard suggested. "This was paid for by the Marines for the Marines. There are billions of dollars worth of claims out there, you know they weren't going to want to pay them."
The Marines haven't yet decided how to respond to the study's conclusions, said 1st Lt. Brian Block, of that military branch's public affairs office.
"We're reviewing it as we speak," he said. "Right now we're looking at it and what it means for us. We're considering, 'Where do we go from here?' No decisions have been made."
Another study by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is open, and Block said it's important for veterans stationed at Lejeune to apply to the registry. Thousands already have signed up, and the military is using their information as part of its study of the contamination issue.
Menard said he — and other veterans — can't sue the federal government because they were part of the military at the time.
But a woman who lived near Lejeune while her husband was stationed there filed a lawsuit claiming the government knowingly exposed hundreds of thousands of Marines to contaminated drinking water.
Lawyers recently said the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for 45-year-old Laura Jones. It says she has lymphoma and now lives in Iowa.
The woman's attorneys allege that chemicals in water at the camp caused health problems including cancers, reproductive disorders and birth defects. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Menard hopes studies and experts brought forward during court hearings related to the issue will show the contaminated water led to their health problems.
— Associated Press
Ellie
Green Bay man has skin cancer
By Patti Zarling • pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com • July 19, 2009
A local veteran is disappointed that the federal government denied his medical claims for treatment for a rare form of skin cancer he believes was linked to contaminated water he drank on base.
Allen Menard of Green Bay, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., from 1981 to 1984, also is frustrated that a recent study determined there's no direct proof that toxins in water at the camp caused health problems in people stationed there.
But that doesn't mean Menard is giving up.
"This is just like Agent Orange during (the Vietnam War), we're just fighting and fighting," he said. "… I was hoping for a more favorable thing, but we'll keep pushing."
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, recently sent a letter to the Veterans Affairs Department urging officials to consider Menard's appeal.
Military officials said they don't comment on individual claims.
On a larger scale, the Natural Resource Council recently determined tainted water at Camp Lejeune between the 1950s and 1985 cannot definitively be linked to health problems.
"A lot of scientists are on the payroll of chemical companies," Menard suggested. "This was paid for by the Marines for the Marines. There are billions of dollars worth of claims out there, you know they weren't going to want to pay them."
The Marines haven't yet decided how to respond to the study's conclusions, said 1st Lt. Brian Block, of that military branch's public affairs office.
"We're reviewing it as we speak," he said. "Right now we're looking at it and what it means for us. We're considering, 'Where do we go from here?' No decisions have been made."
Another study by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is open, and Block said it's important for veterans stationed at Lejeune to apply to the registry. Thousands already have signed up, and the military is using their information as part of its study of the contamination issue.
Menard said he — and other veterans — can't sue the federal government because they were part of the military at the time.
But a woman who lived near Lejeune while her husband was stationed there filed a lawsuit claiming the government knowingly exposed hundreds of thousands of Marines to contaminated drinking water.
Lawyers recently said the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for 45-year-old Laura Jones. It says she has lymphoma and now lives in Iowa.
The woman's attorneys allege that chemicals in water at the camp caused health problems including cancers, reproductive disorders and birth defects. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Menard hopes studies and experts brought forward during court hearings related to the issue will show the contaminated water led to their health problems.
— Associated Press
Ellie