The VA rejects evidence Agent Orange was used at Fort Ord, leaving ill veterans without aid.

Convinced her time living on the former Fort Ord led to her diagnosis of multiple myeloma, U.S. Army veteran Julie Akey formed a Facebook group in 2019 called “Cancer and illnesses from Fort Ord, CA military base.” The group has over 1,800 members, many of whom believe they and their family members were exposed to toxic chemicals on base. She keeps track of illnesses and deaths on a spreadsheet that currently lists over 1,200 people.

Akey initially made a claim to the Veterans Administration that her cancer was linked to the use of Agent Orange, made famous for its use in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was also used on U.S. bases, in Fort Ord’s case to kill thousands of acres of poison oak causing rashes among soldiers in training.

Both her medical claim and her assertion that Agent Orange was used on Fort Ord were denied. Veterans in her Facebook group contended it was used, but she needed documents to prove it. Akey asked research analyst and director of the group Military Poisons, Pat Elder, to help. Elder recruited a retired DuPont chemical engineer and a former VA physician to assist.

Elder searched the University of California Extension for records of Agent Orange on the base, but was getting nowhere, until he realized the term wasn’t popularized until the late 1970s.

He began searching for “2,4,5-T,” an ingredient within Agent Orange banned in 1979 that contains dioxin. He found a detailed daily record made by an Army agronomist in 1951 listing the types and amounts of herbicides used. In one case, he reported that a 200-gallon mixture included 2,4,5-T, another herbicide and eight gallons of diesel oil.

Four other documents were discovered, including one found by the chemical engineer using her knowledge of toxins. Records show Agent Orange was used at Fort Ord until at least 1973, with unused portions stored for years afterward. One reported that 80,000 pounds of combined herbicides were used per year.

The team published a paper in early April, “Evidence of toxic herbicide including Agent Orange at Fort Ord, CA,” and submitted it to the VA, which simultaneous to their work was deciding which U.S. bases to include on a list of those that used Agent Orange in order to consider veterans’ claims for medical care. The VA comment period closed on April 12. Less than a month later, the new list was published – and Fort Ord wasn’t on it.

“We didn’t understand because we gave them all the proof,” Akey says. “We were very frustrated with that. I don’t know what else we could give them to be added to the list.”

Akey’s work focuses on more chemicals than just Agent Orange. She is waiting for a report by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is re-evaluating drinking water exposure and groundwater contamination at Fort Ord from 1985-1994. The report is expected by next spring.