he deadline for veterans and their families impacted by toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune is fast approaching.
Many Connecticut families are filing claims, but time is running out.
We’ve all seen the ads on TV and heard them on the radio.
Lawyers asking people to call them if they were at Camp Lejeune.
t’s easy to brush off, but this has a major impact on veterans and their families, including in Connecticut.
“I still have no immune system which is why I have to wear a mask now,” said Eugene Bussman.
Bussman goes over his case at the Reardon Law Firm in New London.
Bussman spent 15 years at Camp Lejeune and now has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma from toxic drinking water on base.
“What happened here was a travesty,” said Kelly Reardon.
Reardon represents about 80 Connecticut veterans like Eugene who are now suffering from some type of cancer or disease.
Close to 40 have been linked to the water at Camp Lejeune.
“The government knew for decades that there was contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and around Camp Lejeune and they didn’t do anything about it,” Reardon said.
Until two years ago.
The Camp Lejeune Justice Act opened the door for veterans to make claims against the country they served.
But the deadline to make a claim is near.
“Once the two-year mark goes by there is no possible way to make a claim at that point,” said Reardon.
“When they did a cat scan, they found some lumps. It took three biopsies and surgery to actually get inside my neck. I have a scar on it now, to get enough of a sample,” Bussman said.
Bussman isn’t alone.
About a million people are sick from this, thousands in Connecticut. It’s not just veterans.
“Especially the children. All those folks, young people, dependents, all eligible as well,” said Bob Reardon, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune.
