Camp Lejeune and Fort McClellan: Contaminated-Base Claims

When people hear "toxic exposure," they picture burn pits in Iraq. But some of the worst contamination the military ever caused happened on American soil, at bases where women trained, worked, and raised families. Two stand out — and if you were at either one, you have specific rights most veterans do not know about.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

For decades, the drinking water at Camp Lejeune was contaminated with industrial solvents and other volatile organic compounds — including trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (PCE), benzene, and vinyl chloride. Anyone who lived or worked there was drinking, cooking with, and bathing in it.

There are two separate paths for Camp Lejeune, and this is where people get confused:

• VA disability benefits — the VA recognizes presumptive conditions for veterans who served at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 cumulative days during the covered period, including several cancers, Parkinson's disease, and other conditions.
• The Camp Lejeune Justice Act — a separate legal claim (filed through the federal court/administrative process, not the VA) that allows affected individuals — including family members and civilians, not just veterans — to seek compensation for harm. This is distinct from your VA claim, and pursuing one does not replace the other.

For women veterans, the reproductive harms matter enormously here — miscarriages, birth defects in children conceived or carried at Lejeune, and female-specific cancers are part of this story.

Fort McClellan, Alabama

Fort McClellan was home to the Army's Chemical Corps and Military Police training — and for much of the 20th century, a large share of the women in the Army passed through it. The base and the surrounding area were contaminated with PCBs, radioactive compounds, and chemical warfare training agents, and the nearby Monsanto plant released PCBs into the local environment for years.

Fort McClellan does not have the same broad presumptive framework as Camp Lejeune, which makes these facts-found cases — real, but requiring you to build the exposure record. That means documenting where you were, what you did, and connecting a current condition to the specific contaminants through a medical opinion.

The principle underneath both

This is the core truth of toxic exposure: it is driven by location and what you were actually exposed to — not by your job title. A clerk at Fort McClellan breathed the same air as an MP trainee. A supply specialist at Lejeune drank the same water as an infantry Marine. Anyone who tells you that you were not exposed because of your MOS does not understand how this works.

Presumptive versus facts-found — and why it matters

If your condition is presumptive for Camp Lejeune, the VA connects it for you once you show the days of service. If your case is facts-found — Fort McClellan, or a non-presumptive condition — you need your exposure records and a nexus opinion, and that is where an accredited representative earns their keep by pulling the right records and building the memo. A screening tool can estimate your risk, but it is not your official exposure record; the agents pull that.

The contamination did not care what your job was, and neither should your claim. Where you were is the evidence.

If you were at either base and you have an unexplained diagnosis, it is worth having someone map both paths for you — the VA claim and, for Lejeune, the separate legal claim. A review is free.