Two U.S. Representatives from Vermont and Maine want the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to help veterans who fear they may have been exposed to dangerous herbicides at a Canadian military base.
Congressman Peter Welch, and Mike Michaud, of Maine, re-introduced a bill in Congress that would establish a voluntary registry of U.S. veterans who served at the Canadian Forces Base in Gagetown, New Brunswick.
In 2007, the Canadian government acknowledged that Agent Orange and other herbicides were tested at Gagetown and began paying settlements to Canadian veterans.
Members of the Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Rhode Island National Guard and reserves trained at Gagetown. While U.S. veterans trained there after the testing period, many are still concerned they were exposed to toxic levels of herbicides.