VA’s Agent Orange Policy Leaves Navy Veterans High And Dry

The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017 is a bill to restore the presumption of exposure to Agent Orange by veterans who served in the harbors, bays and territorial seas of Vietnam. The bill was introduced on January 5 by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif) and co-sponsored by Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Joseph Courtney (D-Conn.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) and Joe Lobiono (R-N.J.). The bill picked up an additional 100 co-sponsors in less than a week.
HR 299 would correct a policy by the Veteran’s Affairs implemented in 2002 that striped veterans of the presumption of exposure as stipulated in the Agent Orange Act of 1991. The action was based on the interpretation of the phrase that service in the Republic of Vietnam applies only to those who served in the landmass of Vietnam. The opinion ignored that national sovereignty extended to the territorial seas.
Despite studies done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed a higher rate of incidence of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma among Navy Veterans who did not serve in-country, the VA bureaucracy had refused to reconsider its position. The Australian VA also found that there is a higher percentage of cancer incidence in their Royal Australian Navy veterans roughly 22 to 26 percent as compared to 11 to 16 percent incidence rate for those who fought onshore.
An Institute Of Medicine special committee confirmed that dioxin infiltration into the bays, territorial seas and harbors of Vietnam led to possible exposure of the veterans. It was found that a ship’s evaporation and distillation system that converts sea water into drinking water enriches dioxin instead of removing it from the water. This resulted in increased level of dioxin being released into the ship’s water tanks. The dioxin enriched water was used in showering, laundry, cleaning, cooking, food preparation and drinking.
In 2015, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled that the policy by the VA which excludes bays and harbors in the definition of inland waters and presumption of exposure was irrational, capricious and arbitrary. A reevaluation of the definition was ordered by the court. The policy is currently under review by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Veterans argue that as a result of river discharge plumes, dioxin was confirmed in major harbors. By studying coral deterioration 20 years after the war, it was confirmed that toxic levels of dioxin was found in the Kay River which discharges into Nha Trang Harbor where American ships anchored as reported in an article by The Hill.
VA’s Agent Orange policy on blue water veterans, those Vietnam War veterans who served on open sea ships and did not set foot on Vietnam or served on ships that operated near inland waterways and who served anytime between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975 must show factual evidence that they were exposed to herbicides during the military service to receive disability compensation for diseases related to Agent Orange exposure. The cases are decided on a case to case basis. An evolving list of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships associated with military service in Vietnam is being maintained by the VA. A full and latest list of ships that operated in the Vietnam War can be found on their web page.
VA had asked the Health and Medicine division of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine to review scientific and medical evidence regarding possible exposure of Blue Water Veterans to Agent Orange and other herbicides. In 2011, the report stated that the committee was unable to conclude with certainty that Blue Navy personnel were not exposed to Agent Orange as reported by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.