Agency: Camp Lejeune water contaminated in 1953
Many more Marines and their relatives could be eligible for compensation for illnesses because a federal agency determined that the water at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune was contaminated four years earlier than thought.
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In a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the federal the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says computer modeling shows that drinking water in the residential Hadnot Point area was unsafe for human consumption as far back as August 1953. President Barack Obama signed a law last year granting health care and screening to Marines and their dependents on base between 1957 and 1987.
Health officials believe as many as 1 million people may have been exposed to tainted water.
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr issued a statement Friday, saying, "It is my hope that VA will act quickly to amend their policy and review relevant disability claims that have been denied. This is also good news for veterans’ family members who are eligible for health care under the law enacted last year."
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