• Am I Eligible for VA Benefits Related to Contaminated Water? 

Military service members who served at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River or Camp Lejeune may be eligible for benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

VA benefits are available for veterans, reservists, and guardsmen who meet all three of the following eligibility requirements:

  1. The military service member served at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least 30 days between August 1953 and December 1987.
  2. The military service member was diagnosed with at least one of the medical conditions on the VA’s “presumptive” list.
  3. The military service member has not received a dishonorable discharge.

There are eight diagnoses on the VA’s “presumptive” list. They are:

  • Bladder cancer.
  • Kidney cancer.
  • Adult leukemia.
  • Multiple myeloma.
  • Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
  • Aplastic anemia or another myelodysplastic syndrome.
  • Liver cancer.
  • Parkinson’s disease.

VA benefits for service members injured at Camp Lejeune include medical care and monetary compensation. Other benefits, including medical care, are also available for certain family members exposed to the water at Camp Lejeune

Injured service members must provide the VA with two pieces of documentation:

  • Military records showing your service at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least 30 days between August 1853 and December 1987.
  • Medical records showing you were diagnosed with one or more of the illnesses on the presumptive list. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs offers three ways to obtain benefits: filing online, talking to a VSO, or visiting a VA regional office.

A Trusted Authority

Our attorneys have been featured on local and national media outlets, including:

sommers-media-compressor