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FILNER VOWS TO BACK VETERANS SICKENED BY AGENT

ORANGE ON GUAM -- House Vets' Chair says, "I believe all veterans

who were exposed to Agent Orange, and who developed illnesses

as a result of that exposure, deserve to receive disability

benefits and compensation for their sacrifice."

House Vets' Chair Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA)

For more about Agent Orange, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here... http://www.yourv
abenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=agent+orange&op=ph

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Key US lawmaker vows to back veterans sickened by Agent Orange

Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

THE chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs vowed to look into the use of Agent Orange on Guam and support the claims of veterans who developed diseases resulting from their exposure to herbicides and other toxic chemicals while stationed in the territory during the Vietnam conflict.

“I believe all veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange, and who developed illnesses as a result of that exposure, deserve to receive disability benefits and compensation for their sacrifice,” said committee chairman Rep. Bob Filner, D-Ca.

“Please rest assured that I will continue to work hard to honor our nation’s promise to care for our veterans and provide them the benefits they earned and deserve,” Filner stated in an Oct. 24 letter, responding to a veteran’s request that Guam be included in the list of locations under investigation for herbicide contamination.

Pending before Filner’s committee is HR 972, also known as the “Civilian Agent Orange Act,” which establishes a program to compensate veterans who are suffering from illnesses and disabilities as a result of their exposure to Agent Orange and similar herbicides. The bill fixes the compensation amount at $100,000, payable either to the employee or his or her eligible survivor.

In a letter to Filner, Vancil Sanderson, who was stationed at the Naval Communication Station on Guam between 1966 and 1967, provided comprehensive information describing the extent of herbicide contamination on Guam, particularly the island’s drinking water aquifer.

“While stationed on NCS… I could taste, see and smell what appeared to be a solvent in the drinking water. According to ATSDR, the level of TCE would have to have been at least 1,000,000 ppb. What this means is that all the levels of contaminants in the drinking water would have been much higher than indicated by the Department of Defense,” Sanderson wrote.

“With my personal knowledge and hearings held before congress in November 1987, this shows the contamination was extremely high,” he added.

Sanderson corroborates the statements made by other veterans who have disclosed in various forums that Agent Orange and other herbicides were stored in Guam during the Vietnam War.

Some veterans stationed on Guam between 1960s and 1970s also revealed that these herbicides were sprayed in Guam for thinning jungles as well as for building and maintenance of military infrastructure.

“I personally am in contact with five veterans who used AO on Guam in the sixties, the earliest being 1962 and the latest 1969. Veterans who worked in the storage areas of Guam have taken pictures of the various herbicides. They have also written letters in support of the pictures and also stated they used these herbicides on Guam. It was even used in aerial spraying according to veterans,” Sanderson said.

“The way the military handled its toxic waste for years was by dumping or burning and that was how it was done until the 80s. On Guam, you have three military installations over the Northern Guam lens drinking water aquifer. The amount of contamination generated by Andersen during the Vietnam conflict would have been the highest in the world. All of this had rapid transfer to the aquifer,” Sanderson said.

The Guam Legislature last month passed a resolution seeking the inclusion of civilian employees stationed in Guam during the Vietnam conflict in the proposed compensation program for those suffering from illnesses and disabilities related to Agent Orange exposure.

“Existing federal legislation provides compensation for those in the military service who suffered disability or death because of exposure to Agent Orange, but the law does not cover civilian employees, some of whom have also been exposed,” Resolution 95 reads.

“Because it has already been determined that members of the armed forces during the Vietnam War era were exposed to Agent Orange while stationed in Guam and they are being compensated for their disability or death,” the resolution adds, “it is only fair and just that the civilian employees of the federal government physically present in Guam be included in HR 972 so that they can be compensated if there is service connection for illness or death due to herbicide exposure.”

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Larry Scott  --

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