Agent Orange Use Outside Of Vietnam

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•     VA has received a listing from the Defense Department of locations outside of Viet Nam where Agent Orange was used or tested over a number of years. The information gives periods of time, locations and chemicals used. It does not contain units involved or individual identifying information. The listings are almost exclusively Army records although there are an extremely limited number of Navy and Air Force records. These listings relate only to chemical efficacy testing and/or operational testing. The records do not refer to the use of Agent Orange or other chemicals in routine base maintenance activities such as spraying along railroad tracks, weed control on rifle ranges, etc. Information on such use does not exist. VA will develop the listing for proof of exposure for claims for disabilities resulting from Agent Orange exposure outside of Viet Nam.
  VA does have significant information regarding Agent Orange use in Korea along the DMZ. DoD has confirmed that Agent Orange was used from April 1968 up through July 1969 along the DMZ. DoD defoliated the fields of fire between the front line defensive positions and the south barrier fence. The size of the treated area was a strip of lane 151 miles long and up to 350 yards wide from the fence to north of the civilian control line. There is no indication that herbicide was sprayed in the DMZ itself. Herbicides were applied through hand spraying and by hand distribution of pelletized herbicides. Although restrictions were put in place to limit potential for spray drift, run-off, and damage to food crops, records indicate that effects of spraying were sometimes observed as far as 200 meters down wind. Units in the area during the period of use of herbicide were as follows:
  
  1. The four combat brigades of the 2nd Infantry Division. This includes the following units: a) 1-38 Infantry b) 2-38 Infantry c) 1-23 Infantry d) 2-23 Infantry e) 3-23 Infantry f) 3-32 Infantry g) 109th Infantry h) 209th Infantry i) 1-72 Armor j) 2-72 Armor k) 4-7th Cavalry.
  2. 3rd Brigade of the 7th. Infantry Division. This includes the following units: a) 1-17th Infantry b) 2-17th Infantry c) 1-73 Armor d) 2-10th Cavalry.
  3. Field Artillery, Signal and Engineer troops were supplied as support personnel as required. The estimated number of exposed personnel is 12,056.
  
  Unlike Viet Nam, exposure to Agent Orange is not presumed for veterans who served in Korea. Claims for compensation for disabilities resulting from Agent Orange exposure from veterans who served in Korea during this period will be developed for evidence of exposure. If the veteran was exposed the presumptive conditions found for Agent Orange exposure apply. www.vba.va.gov/ro/south/spete/news/notes/0304/2.htm
  
  
  Agent Orange Compensation [Non-Vietnam]: Until recently, the VA would grant compensation to veterans exposed to Agent Orange (AO) outside of Vietnam only if the claimant proved exposure to AO and provided a medical connection between the current disease and that exposure. VA is making an effort to equalize the treatment of all veterans exposed to AO. They recently announced that if exposure outside of Vietnam were proven, and the veteran had one of the ten diseases presumed by law to be related to exposure to AO, the medical connection would be presumed and the claim granted unless there were other disqualifying factors. This was noted in comments on the final rule adding diabetes to the list of “AO diseases” in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e), at 66 Federal Register, page 23, 166 (May 8, 2001). In addition, any veteran concerned about exposure to AO during use, manufacture, testing or transport outside of Vietnam, may be given an AO physical by the VA and added to the Agent Orange Registry (VHA Directive 2000-027).
  The only real issue is proving exposure. All persons who served in Vietnam are presumed to have been exposed. The VA is determining whether Department of Defense information is sufficient to add some non-Vietnam units to the presumptive exposure list, but none have been added as of June 2001. The following areas outside of Vietnam have been confirmed as places where AO was used:

• 
        1. The Korean demilitarized zone in 1968 and 1969 (extensive spraying).
        2. Fort Drum, NY in 1959 (testing).
  Other areas where veterans allege AO to have been sprayed include:
        1. Guam from 1955 through 1960s (spraying).
        2. Johnston Atoll (1972-197 was used for unused AO storage.
        3. Panama Canal Zone from 1960s to early 1970s (spraying).
        4. Elgin AFB (Agents Orange and Blue) on Firing Range and Viet Cong Village
        5. Wright-Patterson AFB (OH) and Kelly AFB (TX)
  

• FOR RELEASE: May 9, 2003
  
  Evans Asks Secretary Rumsfeld for Information Concerning Agent Orange and Similar Herbicide Usage in Guam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Puerto Rico and Various Locations in the United States
  Veterans Need Access to Information to Establish VA Claims Related to Herbicide Exposure
  Washington, DC - Congressman Lane Evans of Illinois, the Ranking Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for information concerning the use and storage of Vietnam-era herbicides such as Agent Orange, Agent Blue, and Agent White at the Anderson Air Force Base at Yigo, Guam. Evans has been contacted by veterans who report that these herbicides were used in Guam during the Vietnam era. Evans also provided the Secretary with a report which indicates that dioxin has been found in soil at the Air Force Base.
  
  Evans also asked the Secretary for an assessment of the use, testing or storage of Agent Orange, Agent Blue, Agent Purple, Agent White or other herbicides which contain dioxin at locations in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Puerto Rico and various locations in the United States. U.S. locations include sites in Maryland, Florida, Texas, California, Georgia, Mississippi Hawaii, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Washington. Evans cautions that the amount of herbicides used in some of these locations may have been small amounts for short term testing and may present no danger to populations.
   
  Evans notes that veterans who are claiming service-connection of disabilities which have been associated with herbicide exposure have had serious difficulty in proving exposure. "If the Department of Defense hasevidence that herbicides were used in particular areas, during specific periods of time, that information should be made public so that affected
  veterans may receive appropriate assistance in establishing their claims," said Evans. Evans complained, "It is more than 30 years since many of the herbicides were used, yet veterans are still having claims denied because the Department of Defense has not been forthcoming with information concerning the locations where veterans may have been exposed. It is well past the time for full and open disclosure."
  _________________________________________________________________
  
  May 7, 2003
  Honorable Donald Rumsfeld
  Secretary
  Department of Defense
  Washington, DC 20301-1000
  
  Dear Secretary Rumsfeld:
  
  According to a "Public Health Assessment" of Anderson Air Force Base, Yigo, Guam which my staff has received, dioxin levels have been detected in soil at the Main Base and other locations described in the attached document. I have also received information from veterans who were stationed on Guam andwho have reported the use of Agent Orange, Agent Blue and Agent White during the Vietnam era. I am requesting that you review the enclosed document and provide me with information concerning the use and storage of Vietnam era herbicides, including the contaminant dioxin on Guam. I am also requesting an assessment of the use, testing or storage of Agent Orange, Agent Blue, Agent Purple, Agent White or other herbicides which contain dioxin, including the locations, amounts and relevant dates at the following locations and any other location for which documentation exists:
  
  Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, Maryland
  Apalachicola National Forest (Sophoppy, Florida)
  Avon Air Force Base, Florida
  Beaumont, Texas
  Brawley, California
  Bushnell Army Air Field, Florida
  Camp Detrick, Maryland
  Dar and Prek Clong, Cambodia
  Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
  Fort Gordon, Georgia
  Fort Richie, Maryland
  Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
  Guanica, and Joyuda, Puerto Rico
  Gulfport, Mississippi
  Huntington County, State College, Pennsylvania
  Jacksonville, Florida
  Kauai, Hawaii
  Kingston, Rhode Island
  Kompong Cham Province, Cambodia
  Laos
  Las Marias, Puerto Rico
  Las Mesas Cerros and La Jugua, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
  Loquillo, Puerto Rico
  Mauna Loa, Hilo, Hawaii
  Operation PACER HO (Disposal at sea)
  Pinal Mountains, Globe, Arizona
  Pranburi and other locations in Thailand
  Prosser, Washington
  Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
  Wayside and Wilcox, Mississippi
  
  
  I would appreciate a response to this letter by June 13, 2003. If you have any questions about this request, please contact Mary Ellen Mc Carthy, Democratic Staff Director, Subcommittee on Benefits. Thank you for your efforts to improve services to our Nation's veterans.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  LANE EVANS
  Ranking Democratic Member
  
  cc: The Honorable Anthony J. Principi
  The Honorable Daniel L. Coope

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