Agent Orange exposure at Gagetown sparks U.S. probe
Maine National Guard soldiers seek disability benefits; U.S. Centers for Disease Control investigates
The Centers for Disease Control will investigate whether Maine soldiers were exposed to dangerous chemicals, including Agent Orange, while training at a military base in New Brunswick.
The head of the agency, Dr. Thomas Frieden, made the promise in a letter to U.S. Senator Susan Collins.
MaineToday Media says more than 100 former National Guard soldiers from the state have sought disability benefits for health problems believed linked to their training at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown.
The Department of Veteran Affairs rejected the claims because there's no evidence that Agent Orange, a Vietnam War-era chemical defoliant, was used during the time thousands of Maine soldiers trained at the base.
The Canadian government agreed in 2007 to make $20,000 payments to hundreds of Canadian veterans and their families who served at Gagetown and later became ill after being exposed to Agent Orange in the 1960s.