What the VA says about Fort McClellan health effects
Veterans who feel their diseases, conditions, or illnesses were connected to their service
at Fort McClellan may submit a claim for disability compensation.
The VA decides these claims on a case-by-case basis.
Some members of the U.S. Army Chemical Corp School, Army Combat Development Command Chemical/Biological/Radiological Agency, Army Military Police School and Women’s Army Corps, among others, may have been exposed to one or more of several hazardous materials, likely at low levels, during their service at Fort McClellan. Potential exposures could have included, but are not limited to, the following:
- Radioactive compounds (cesium-137 and cobalt-60) used in decontamination training activities in isolated locations on base.
- Chemical warfare agents (mustard gas and nerve agents) used in decontamination testing activities in isolated locations on base.
- Airborne polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Monsanto plant in the neighboring town.
Although exposures to high levels of these compounds have been shown to cause a variety of adverse health effects in humans and laboratory animals, there is no evidence of exposures of this magnitude having occurred at Fort McClellan.”
Fort McClellan’s Toxic Cocktail
From PCBs in the water, soil and air from a local Monsanto plant, to the chemical, radiological and biological agents using in training, soldiers were potentially exposed to Fort McClellan health effects from a wide range of health hazards between the 1930s and the installation’s closure in 1999. At the moment, there is little recognition of the hazards these men and women faced. This timeline documents just some of the history, exposures, and fight for access to remedies and benefits.
Fort McClellan
News Reports
News, information and media investigations about exposures at Fort McClellan.