Fort McClellan - Operation Top Hat

[Vync]

Looks like Alabama is trying to get the VA to do something about the hazardous chemical and radiation exposure for those who served at Fort McClellan, Alabama... 

https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2021-10-18/fort-mcclellan-chemicals-veterans-illnesses-3287557.html?utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=de84a0aca8-Newsletter+-+Veterans+news&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0ab8697a7f-de84a0aca8-296777442

Quote

(Tribune News Service) — The Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs is urging establishment of a program to help veterans who suffer health problems possibly caused by exposure to toxic substances at Fort McClellan in Anniston.

The SBVA unanimously passed a resolution urging Alabama’s congressional delegation to support legislation to study the effects of service at Fort McClellan and the establishment of a health registry. The resolution calls for a presumptive service connection for veterans who were exposed at Fort McClellan.

A presumptive service connection means that the Department of Veterans Affairs presumes that a health condition is caused by the specific circumstances of a veteran’s work in the military.

Fort McClellan, established in 1917, became home to the Army’s Chemical Corps and Chemical Weapons school after World War II until the base closed in 1999.

According to the resolution, the Army used personnel at Fort McClellan to test exposure to and decontamination methods for sulfur mustard and nerve agents in 1953, a program called “Operation Top Hat.”

In 1998, a U.S. Army Environmental Center study found the presence of dangerous contaminants requiring investigation and cleanup before Fort McClellan could be converted to the public domain after the base closed.

In 2005, the National Academy of Medicine said the groundwater and soil at Fort McClellan were contaminated.

But the VA does not acknowledge health problems associated with service at Fort McClellan. Military and veterans who served on Fort McClellan were excluded from a class-action settlement between the city of Anniston and Monsanto chemical plant in 2003.

The VA has noted the existence of the toxic chemicals used at Fort McClellan and that potential exposures could have included, but are not limited to: Radioactive compounds (cesium-137 and cobalt-60) used in decontamination training activities; chemical warfare agents (mustard gas and nerve agents) used in decontamination testing; and airborne PCBs from the Monsanto plant in Anniston.

 

 

 

[pwrslm]

They have a similar situation in Colorado with the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and the Rocky Mtn Flats. They disposed of (buried) chemical waste and munitions from mustard gas and other nerve agents post WWI and WWII at the Arsenal. They whitewashed an investigation on this, but the cancer rates of those in the regions are higher than normal. 

The report blamed it on smokers. Go figure.

[Berta]

Here is a Fort McClellan AO award:

https://community.hadit.com/topic/44060-ao-award-ft-mcclelland/

Nothing can be overlooked as a possible nexus, when filing a claim that regards Fort McClellan.

Here is another one our deceased ( and never forgotten member Carlie) posted:

https://www.va.gov/vetapp11/Files4/1132526.txt

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Berta

[Rattler]

I live near Fort McClellan. The following was in The Anniston Star new paper on October 20, 2021. Fort McClellan Chemicals 10-20-21.pdf

Edited November 25, 2021 by Rattler767

[Vync]

@pwrslmThat's pretty sad when they look for any excuse to avoid taking responsibilities.

@Berta That makes me wonder what the exposure criteria was. I bet the VA makes it really tight by saying you must have been stationed there.

@Rattler767I live a couple of hours away. Back in 2009, some extended family was attending a soccer game and right next to the field was a "danger" sign about undetonated ordinance. No fence or nothing either at the time. I remember watching the news to learn they claimed to have cleaned up much of it.

[Berta]

Vync said :

"That makes me wonder what the exposure criteria was. I bet the VA makes it really tight by saying you must have been stationed there."

Yes -that is the main problem vets have to overcome by not only proving their direct exposure but also proving that the exposure medically caused them a disability for any claim of exposure that does not fall under the presumptive regulations.

I mention James Cripps from time to time because he is the first CONUS vet to prove he was exposed to AO at Fort Gordon. Plenty here from James, and in our radio show archives all searchable.

But a veteran could easily hone in on focusing on one theory of exposure that wont fly, yet they might have been exposed to chemicals, hazardous material, or other contamintants, in a  different and provable way.