Financial relief finally coming for Camp Lejeune toxic water victims

[unhappycamper]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/09/23/240809/financial-relief-finally-coming.html?sp=/99/200/

Financial relief finally coming for Camp Lejeune toxic water victims
By Renee Schoof
McClatchy Washington Bureau
September 23, 2014 Updated 13 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday announced it will soon start to cover out-of-pocket health care costs for Marine dependents who contracted cancer and other illnesses from toxic water at Camp Lejeune, as promised two years ago by law.

In 2012, Congress passed the landmark Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act. It provided health care for Marines and family members who had lived on the base near Jacksonville, N.C., from 1957-1987 and who suffered from any of 15 illnesses named in the law. These included cancer related to the lungs, bladder, breasts, kidneys and esophagus, as well leukemia and problems involving female infertility.

An estimated 750,000 people were exposed to drinking water at the base that was polluted with chemicals that included industrial solvents and benzene from fuels. The chemicals resulted from spills, a dump site on base, leaking underground storage tanks on base and an off-base dry cleaner.

Under the 2012 law, the VA immediately offered full care for veterans who had been stationed at Camp Lejeune, but it told their dependents who suffered from covered illnesses that they would have to wait to be reimbursed.