Citation Nr: 21024814 Decision Date: 04/26/21 Archive Date: 04/26/21 DOCKET NO. 16-35 363A DATE: April 26, 2021 ORDER Service connection for leukemia is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s leukemia is not related to exposure to contaminated water or pesticides in service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for leukemia have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 1965 to November 1967. The matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2014 rating decision. In July 2019, the Board remanded the matter to obtain outstanding personnel records and contact all appropriate institutions to corroborate the Veteran’s alleged exposure to environmental contaminants. The Board finds that there was substantial compliance with the remand instructions and further remand is unnecessary. Specifically, the RO obtained the Veteran’s complete medical and personnel record, reviewed relevant guidance, regulations, and manuals to assess the Veteran’s environmental hazards allegations, requested review of Department of Defense’s (DOD) inventory of herbicide operations, and contacted various organizations for assistance with the Veteran’s allegations. While the requests specified herbicides, they also included the Veteran’s allegations regarding environmental toxins and substances. In February 2021, Compensation Service confirmed that the Veteran was not based at a location identified by DOD as a base where tactical herbicides were used, tested, or stored. Instead, Compensation Service determined that any herbicide used or observed was of the commercial variety. In January 2021, the Military Records Research Center advised the RO to follow the procedures identified in VA’s Adjudication Manual M21-1 IV.ii.1. For claims that involve locations other than those specified by DOD, there is no repository of information that would corroborate the Veteran’s claims. Instead, VA is advised to obtain all personnel records and consider alternate evidence, like lay evidence or news articles, in establishing whether the Veteran participated in or was affected by an in-service environmental hazard exposure event. Here, the Veteran does not allege he was involved in a specific event – instead he contends that pesticides or commercial herbicides used to maintain the base caused his leukemia. Thus, the Board finds that another remand is unnecessary because the RO contacted the appropriate institutions regarding the Veteran’s contentions, and there is no further information that can be obtained that would be favorable to his claim. The Veteran seeks service connection for his chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He contends that his condition was caused by contaminated drinking water at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot (Depot) in Parris Island, South Carolina. Further, he contends that his condition is related to pesticide exposure, including herbicides and insecticides, sprayed on agriculture and plant overgrowth at the Depot. Because leukemia is a “chronic disease” under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a), the Board considered entitlement to presumptive service connection. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b). The Veteran’s service treatment records are negative for leukemia and relevant symptoms, and he was diagnosed with leukemia in approximately 2009, more than forty years after separation from service. Importantly, the Veteran has not contended that his leukemia began in or shortly after service, and nothing was noted in service. Thus, presumptive service connection is not warranted. See id. The Board further finds the evidence weighs against his claim that his leukemia is related to service, to include alleged exposure to tactical herbicide agents, contaminated drinking water, and pesticides. The Veteran has not explicitly argued that he was exposed to tactical herbicide agents, but a November 2012 VA treatment record shows that he felt “strongly” that he was exposed to Agent Orange at the Depot. DOD has identified locations outside Vietnam and the Korean DMZ were tactical herbicide agents were used, tested, and stored. This list does not include the Depot, as confirmed by VA correspondence in February 2021, and the Veteran has not explicitly stated that he witnessed the use of tactical herbicides at the Depot. Accordingly, exposure to tactical herbicide agents is not shown. Next, the Board considered the Veteran’s contentions that he was exposed to contaminated drinking water but finds that the evidence does not support his claim. In August 2014, the Veteran submitted a Site Progress Profile printout from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) related to contaminants of concern at Camp Lejeune. The list documented, among others, that trichloroethylene (TCE), benzenes, perchloroethylene (PCE), and vinyl chloride were found in the groundwater. VA has determined that specific diseases outlined in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(f) are associated with exposure to these contaminants. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(7). In July 2014, the Veteran submitted a similar EPA printout that documented contaminants of concern at the Depot. Unlike the Superfund Site for Camp Lejeune, TCE, PCE, benzenes, and vinyl chloride were not documented at all and the contaminants that were document were not found in the groundwater. Similarly, the August 1994 Superfund Site Report indicated several contaminants had been detected in the surface water and other locations but not the groundwater. The contaminants list did not include TCE, PCE, benzenes, or vinyl chloride. Thus, the evidence does not show that the key contaminants underlying Camp Lejeune claims were found at the Depot nor that the groundwater or drinking water was contaminated at the Depot. The Veteran submitted articles in July 2016 which documented DOD investigations into possible contaminated groundwater from firefighting foam at hundreds of sites nationwide, including the Depot. The articles, however, do not discuss a specific timeframe for the contamination nor do they confirm that the groundwater or drinking water were contaminated at the Depot. Accordingly, the Board did not find the articles relevant. The Board also considered a study titled Occupational Benzene Exposure and the Risk of Lymphoma, submitted by the Veteran in July 2014. Neither the EPA evidence nor competent lay evidence demonstrates exposure to benzenes, and the Board did not find the study relevant. The Board further considered the July 2014 medical opinion but accorded it no probative value. The Veteran’s hematologist/oncologist stated that the Veteran described “exposure to contaminated water” and that there are “published reports showing possible links between a variety of environmental exposures and an increased risk of CLL.” The opinion is speculative, is based on the uncorroborated allegation of contaminated drinking water, and it does not specify an “environmental exposure” to which the Veteran was exposed and causes leukemia. Accordingly, the opinion is not probative evidence of a nexus. Finally, the Board considered the Veteran’s contentions that he was exposed to pesticides working with food and out in the field, and such exposure caused his leukemia but finds that these contentions are not enough to establish service connection. He has only contended general exposure to pesticides; he has not demonstrated any personal knowledge of specific pesticides used. The Board acknowledges the EPA list of contaminants found at the Depot, but notes these contaminants were predominantly found in landfill sites. Notably, the Veteran has not submitted competent evidence of a link between the contaminants and his leukemia. Thus, the competent evidence simply does not demonstrate that the Veteran was exposed to pesticides that caused his leukemia. After weighing the evidence, including the EPA Superfund Site websites and articles, medical records, and the Veteran’s lay testimony, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran’s claim, and the claim is denied. Because the evidence does not show exposure to pesticides or other environmental exposures that could cause leukemia, a medical opinion was not required. MICHELLE L. KANE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Lavan The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.