Maine Army Guard troops haunted by Agent Orange

Soldiers who trained at a Canadian base blame their lasting health problems on exposure to herbicides.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/maine-army-guard-troops-haunted-by-agent-orange_2013-03-17.html 
WASHINGTON - Two weeks a year for six years, Carroll Jandreau stepped away from life in far northern Maine to dig, crawl and sleep in the dirt of a massive military training base in neighboring Canada.

"When we would go there, they would say, 'Make sure not to bathe in the pools of water, not to drink the water and not to eat the vegetation,"' Jandreau said. "But we couldn't eat the vegetation because the leaves were all brown and crisp."
Jandreau, a member of the Maine Army National Guard, would learn decades later why the grass and shrubs covering the training grounds at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown appeared burnt.
READ MORE: http://www.pressherald.com/news/maine-army-guard-troops-haunted-by-agent-orange_2013-03-17.html

 

Sampling expected to yield answers on Budd Inlet dioxin levels

http://www.theolympian.com/2013/03/15/2463703/sampling-expected-to-yield-answers.html
Some time this summer, we should have a detailed picture of dioxin contamination in the lower Budd Inlet marine sediments.

Part of me wants to say: “What’s taken so long?” Widespread dioxin contamination was first discovered on the Olympia waterfront a full six years ago during sediment sampling conducted by the Port of Olympia in advance of a scheduled dredging project for the navigation channel and marine terminal shipping berths at the port docks.
Another part of me wants to say: “Finally, some progress toward the eventual cleanup of dioxin-tainted sediments.”

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2013/03/15/2463703/sampling-expected-to-yield-answers.html#storylink=cpy

Support Care and Medical Treatment for the Children of Vietnam Veterans

http://www.causes.com/actions/1694553-support-care-and-medical-treatment-for-the-children-of-vietnam-veterans

To: United States Veterans Administration

Since 1991, Birth Defect Research for Children has received calls from thousands of Vietnam veterans who have children with birth defects and other disabilities.“Ilost my husband from a cancerous brain tumor 13 months ago. My son has many disabilities, including Tourette’s syndrome, mental...
…

I will get friends to sign the petition. If 2,000 of us get 10 friends to sign, we'll reach our goal of 25,000. 

Birth Defect Research for Children wants you to join us in raising public awareness about the continuing effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam Veterans' children! There is power in numbers. The more signatures we receive, the more our voices will be heard. Signing this petition will help thousands of Vietnam Veterans' children that are in dire need of specific medical treatment related to Agent Orange exposure. Be a supporter and sign the petition on the behalf of ALL veterans!

Issues: veterans, children, troops, support veterans, parents, military, support group, birth defects, vietnam veterans, agent orange

 

National Resource Directory

The National Resource Directory (www.NRD.gov) is a federal government website that connects wounded warriors, Service Members, Veterans, families and caregivers to thousands of services and programs at the national, state and local levels that support them during recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration. Visitors to the website can find information on topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder, military and Veterans’ benefits, health care, educational opportunities, homeless assistance, employment and much more.

Throughout the past few months, more than 60 new resources have been added to the NRD, bringing the total number of resources that can be accessed from the site to nearly 15,000.

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As you are using the NRD if you do not see your favorite resource request to have it added by using the Suggest a Resource page. Before being listed on the NRD, all suggested resources are validated to ensure they meet the criteria outlined in the NRD Participation Policy.
We appreciate your continued support of the NRD, and we hope these new features will help you stay connected as we all work together to improve the lives of our wounded warriors, Service Members, Veterans, military families and caregivers. If you have any questions about these new bulletins or about any other feature of the NRD, please contact us at info@nrd.gov.

Report says NC base toxic water may date to 1948

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Report-says-NC-base-toxic-water-may-date-to-1948-4355349.php#ixzz2Ncbi4sl7
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Drinking water contamination at North Carolina's sprawling Camp Lejeune military base could date to 1948, five years earlier than researchers had reported previously, a federal report indicates.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry plans to release a report Friday on the contamination that has led to a long-running dispute between former residents and the Marines Corps.
TCE, an industrial solvent now known as a human carcinogen, likely first exceeded the maximum contaminant level in August 1953, but evidence shows its presence in the water supply might date as far back as November 1948, the report states. A copy of the report was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
"Basically, it's vindication and confirmation for what I've been saying for nearly 16 years," said retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger, a leader in a protracted fight for information about the contamination. "The truth is finally coming out."
Ensminger blames the contamination for the leukemia that killed his 9-year-old daughter, Janey, in 1985. Marines and family members have blamed the contamination for many kinds of cancers, including breast cancer in men and women, bladder cancer and liver cancer.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Report-says-NC-base-toxic-water-may-date-to-1948-4355349.php#ixzz2Nd4K2qc3

Has Binghamton’s water already been affected by Fracking?

People in NY think they are safe from the harms of fracking. But are they?

http://blog.shaleshockmedia.org/2012/09/05/has-binghamtons-water-already-been-affected-by-fracking/
My friend Bret Jennings is a councilor for Great Bend Borough, PA.
(Contact: Bret Jennings brett76544@hotmail.com )

He recently told me that some residents on private wells have had their water turn black. Fracking operations are going on ~4000 feet away.

 ...Massive wide-spread defoliation with undisclosed industrial chemicals . . . does that sound familiar ? It does if you are of a certain age. That’s what the US Army did to the Vietnamese and our own soldiers in Viet Nam: poisoned them with herbicides that just happened to have some rather nasty side effects on people. Do yourself a favor and don’t read up on what Agent Orange did to the unborn. Think Thalidomide. Which, for all we know, could be an ingredient in frack water. Something really nasty is for damn sure in the stuff: ...

This is a serious problem because these people are on city sewer, but may get cut off, as the chemicals in frack fluids destroy the beneficial bacteria necessary for sewer plants to operate.
I note the the water from Great Bend flows towards NY and Binghamton. Also, I note the City of Binghamton (as Bret tells me) has at least one water source which draws directly from the Susquehanna.
So I started wondering, how many fracked wells exist now in the watershed with drains into the Susquehanna and ultimately provides Binghamton’s water?
READ MORE: http://blog.shaleshockmedia.org/2012/09/05/has-binghamtons-water-already-been-affected-by-fracking/

http://blog.shaleshockmedia.org/2012/06/01/fracking-mineral-water/

Dioxin checks - BEC offers blood tests for POPI neighbors

http://www.newsreview.com/chico/dioxin-checks/content?oid=9296377

The Butte Environmental Council (Butte County California) has received $11,000 in two grants that it will use to give blood tests to five people who lived close to the Covanta-owned cogeneration plant Pacific Oroville Power Inc.

The ash from the plant, which created energy by burning wood as well as ag and “urban” waste, tested high in dioxins. There is concern that the exhaust from the burners may have contaminated the air for those who lived close to the plant.

BEC’s Mark Stemen said the organization is still figuring out how to offer the tests to those who may be affected. The tests will be analyzed by a lab in Germany, Stemen said. The grants came from the Patagonia outdoor clothing company and Clif Bar organic food makers. Both companies’ websites mention their respective environmental activism.

VVA town meeting on generational effects of Agent Orange/Dioxin

West Virginia State Council of Vietnam Veterans of America will hold a town hall meeting to address the birth defects, diseases and learning disabilities affecting children and grandchildren of Vietnam Veterans. The forum will be Sunday, March 17, 2 p.m. at the Fayetteville Memorial Building.
“We cannot be silent about the effects of our battlefield exposures on our children in the face of overwhelming evidence connecting many diseases and birth defects to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam,” said Bill McDonald, Agent Orange Chair for the West Virginia State Council of Vietnam Veterans of America.
“We encourage all Veterans with children and/or grandchildren suffering from illnesses, learning disabilities or physical disabilities to come share their stories. We will explore issues surrounding Agent Orange exposure, including scientific information, health effects and methods for educating the public and elected representatives about the issues of Vietnam Veterans, their children and their families,” McDonald said.
The goal of the town meeting is to bring attention to the hidden cost of our service and to encourage the government to create and maintain a registry of these birth defects, as well as assist our doctors in finding ways to diagnose and treat these birth defects. Veterans of all wars are subject to many contaminates and most were not aware of what was being used or what effects most would have on their health.
“Our children are innocent victims of our war and need the help of our government to cope with these problems. We worry, who will be there to take care of them when we are gone?” McDonald said.
In keeping with the VVA founding principle, “Never again will one generation of Veterans abandon another.”
For local information contact Dave Simmons dsimmons@vva.org or Connie Jones at jonconscave006@aol.com.

Agent Orange Town Hall Meeting March 17, 2013 West Virginia

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Faces-of-Agent-Orange/187669911280144

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407-895-0802

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San Bernardino Veterans Affairs office seeks Agent Orange beneficiaries

http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20130301-region-veterans-affairs-office-seeks-agent-orange-beneficiaries.ece

The San Bernardino County Department of Veterans Affairs is trying to find Vietnam veterans and their survivors who are unaware they are eligible for benefits related to Agent Orange exposure.
In 2010, the U.S. government began paying benefits to Vietnam veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange and later developed certain heart ailments, B-cell leukemia and Parkinson’s disease, said Bill Moseley, director of the county’s veterans’ services office.
But he isn’t sure everyone got the word. He is particularly concerned about veterans who may have died from heart attacks before those changes were made. His office sent out a notice encouraging any Vietnam veterans who had ischemic heart disease — hardening of the arteries — or their survivors to inquire about possible benefits.
“My concern is if a veteran died from a heart attack 10 years ago, the widow may not be aware that she is entitled to survivor benefits,” Moseley said. “My heart tells me that there are some widows out there.”
The outreach is not part of a coordinated effort with other agencies, he said. It’s just something that has been nagging him for awhile, so he decided to put the word out.
Surviving veterans could be eligible for disability payments, he said. The payments would vary depending upon the severity of the illness.
Benefits for survivors are fixed, Moseley said. Widows or widowers of service members would receive $1,215 per month. Surviving dependent children are eligible for $301 per month. Survivors also might qualify for education benefits.
If a surviving family member applied for benefits before the federal VA recognized that Agent Orange exposure could have contributed to heart disease, and was denied, they may qualify for benefits retroactive to that filing date, Moseley said.
He said the heart-related benefits are specific to ischemic heart disease. Ailments such as hypertension, peripheral vascular disease and stroke are not eligible.
Those interested should call 909-387-5516 or 866-472-8387.
Moseley said he wants to spur some interest.
“I’m hoping we get a tidal wave, frankly.”

Herbicide Tests and Storage in the U.S.

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/outside_vietnam_usa.asp

Agent Orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam were tested or stored elsewhere, including many military bases in the United States. Below is information from the Department of Defense (DoD) on projects to test, dispose of, or store herbicides in the U.S. For projects outside the U.S., go to Herbicide Tests and Storage Outside the U.S.
View all as PDF: Herbicide Tests and Storage Outside of Vietnam