In the autumn of 1980, a contractor showed up to grade a parking lot. He had no idea he was about to start digging up the radioactive bodies of dead beagles. But the forked bucket on his bulldozer started pulling up more than soil, and it turned out he was digging in a pit of strontium-90 and dog carcasses that had been buried in an ash-gray tomb: a nest of dead dogs and laboratory waste labeled "Radioactive Poison."

The new parking lot was on the site of the former Naval Research Laboratory dump and its associated incinerator in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina-and it was just one of many areas contaminated by an assortment of hazardous waste and chemicals on the base.

About half a mile away from the dump, soon to be known as Site 19, my friends and I were living in our neighborhood, called Paradise Point. We spent our time putting other girls' bras into freezers at slumber parties, playing the Telephone Game, riding our bikes all over the place: to the golf course to steal a cart, to swim at the pool, to play soccer on Saturdays.

Click here to read the Federal Register rule on Payment or Reimbursement for Certain Medical Expenses for Camp Lejeune Family Members

Click here to read the Federal Register rule on Hospital Care and Medical Services for Camp Lejeune Veterans

Governor Releases Statement on Senate Bill 574

Raleigh, NC - Governor Pat McCrory released the following statement following the signing of Senate Bill 574:  “This solution is a testament to our ability

In the early 1980s at the Marine Corps Base in Lejeune, NC, it was discovered that two on-base water-supply systems were contaminated with the volatile organic compounds trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal degreaser, and perchloroethylene (PCE), a dry cleaning agent. Benzene, vinyl chloride, and other compounds were also found to be contaminating the water-supply systems. For the full link click here.

Many of the members of the MCRA have been stationed during their career at Camp Lejeune. As such, this issue is one that the MCRA is following closely and has been advocating on Capitol Hill for many years. Much progress has been made, but there is much work remaining. We will continue to follow this issue for as long as it remains. We will strive to keep the membership informed of all news on this issue. The Marine Corps encourages all those who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune before 1987 to register to receive notifications regarding this matter. In addition, the Department of the Navy is funding independent research initiatives.

As part of VA's ongoing commitment to provide care to veterans and their families, the Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced that it will start the process of amending its regulations to establish presumptions of service connection for certain conditions resulting from exposure to contaminated drinking water at the U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.  This process is in addition to the healthcare VA already provides for 15 conditions to eligible veterans who were stationed at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days between Aug. 1, 1953 and Dec. 31, 1987 as a result of the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012. VA also provides reimbursement of healthcare expenses for those 15 conditions to eligible

An exclusive NY1 investigation revealed that the Department of Veterans Affairs denies 89 percent of disability claims where there is "evidence of an association with the contaminants in the water" at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, an issue that impacts thousands of veterans and civilians across the country, including here in New York. In his latest report, NY1's Michael Herzenberg gets reaction from the VA and a lawmaker.

A NY1 investigation found that the VA denies disability benefits to nearly nine out of 10 veterans who say contaminated water at the famed Camp Lejeune Marine Base made them sick and that there is evidence of an association with the contaminants in the water.

The federal bureaucracy moved at an agonizing crawl for the Marine Corps veterans sickened by the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Some died waiting for government benefits. But the Department of Veterans Affairs Thursday, after more than a year of work, finalized rules that will allow potentially thousands of veterans stationed at the base — or surviving spouses — to receive automatic benefits if they have been diagnosed with one of eight diseases.

This marks the end of a long wait for many veterans who have been denied benefits by the VA and may be in desperate need for disability pensions and medical care. The estimated cost to taxpayers over the next five years is $2.2 billion. FULL STORY