New Website Informs Ft. McClellan Veterans of Possible Toxic Exposure
For decades Anniston’s now closed Ft. McClellan was home to the Army Chemical School and housed substances including sarin gas and nerve agent. The company Monsanto also released toxic chemicals into the environment around the area. Some veterans say exposure to these substances while at Ft. McClellan caused them an array of health problems and have called for compensation from the federal government.
Those activists can now claim a small victory.
Ft. McClellan veteran Sue Frasier has been working on this issue for 12 years. Back in February she met with Veterans Affairs Department administrators and they asked what they could do to help. She told them she wanted a way to notify veterans.
“One way to start that would be to have an official government webpage that spoke directly to this situation,” said Frasier.
As of April, they got their website.
“[It’s] just exactly what I had envisioned for and hoped for at the meeting,” said Frasier.
The website lists the chemicals service members may have been exposed to at Ft. McClellan, although it notes there’s no evidence they were exposed at a high enough level to cause health problems. It also includes a link for veterans to file individual compensation claims. The VA’s acting chief consultant for post-deployment health, Dr. Ralph Erickson, says they don’t do this in every case, but with Ft. McClellan it made sense.
“This would be a very effective way of reaching in a short period of time a rather large group of people and their families with good information,” said Erickson.
New York Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko believes the website is a good first step but more should be done. He plans to reintroduce a bill mandating the VA create a registry of every veteran who served at Ft. McClellan from 1935 to its closure in 1999, potentially tens of thousands of people. The department would reach out to veterans about the effects of the toxic exposure and offer health exams.
“If we can put this language into law, then we know that we have a response that will be predictable and full in scope,” said Tonko.
Sue Frasier’s activism spurred that proposed legislation but she says she no longer supports it. She says negotiating directly with the VA is more fruitful. While individual compensation claims are possible, Frasier wants the Ft. McClellan veterans to be treated as a group. She’ll meet with Veterans Affairs leaders again this week.
Center-left Socialist candidate wins over populist in Portugal’s presidential runoff
Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal's runoff presidential election Sunday, according to official results.
Seahawks win Super Bowl title, pounding the Patriots 29-13
Seattle's "Dark Side" defense helped Sam Darnold become the first quarterback in the 2018 draft class to win a Super Bowl, to win the franchise's second title.
No, that wasn’t Liam Conejo Ramos in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show
A publicist for Bad Bunny confirmed to NPR that the little boy in a blue bunny hat detained by ICE in Minneapolis last month did not participate in the Super Bowl halftime show.
March for Life attendees may have been exposed to measles, DC Health warns
D.C. health officials are contacting people possibly exposed to measles at the March for Life in January, as confirmed cases rise nationwide.
U.S. gave Ukraine and Russia June deadline to reach peace agreement, Zelenskyy says
"The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer," Zelenskyy said, speaking to reporters on Friday.
U.K. leader’s chief of staff quits over hiring of Epstein friend as U.S. ambassador
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff resigned Sunday over the furor surrounding the appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to the U.S. despite his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
