H.R. 6562 would amend title 38, United States Code, relating to presumptions of exposure for veterans who served in the vicinity of Vietnam.

== Detailed Summary ==

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== Status of the Legislation ==

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Latest Major Action: 7/22/2008: Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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== Points in Favor ==

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== Points Against ==

Here is a scenario for discussion. This is based on supposition but is provided as a means to stimulate discussion.

An area of the South China Sea 20 miles by 800 miles would equal 16,000 square miles. This is smaller than the area actually occupied by US navy ships but is used to simplify the calculations and give the benefit to close in to shore ships. If we consider a larger area the concentration of dioxin would be even lower.

At an average depth of 200 feet (considering the slope of the seabed floor away from land, this would amount to 89,210,880,000,000 cubic feet of water.

That equates to 669,081,600,000,000 gallons, or 5,687,193,600,000,000 pounds, of sea water by volume.

By the most speculative account available an estimated 1320 pounds of dioxin was sprayed and/or spilled.

A liberal estimate would be that perhaps half of this total, or 660 pounds, ran off into the rivers and streams. Further, an estimated 50 percent of that actually reached the South China Sea, an amount equal to 330 pounds total. Since dioxin is nearly insoluble it would have attached to sediment. There would certainly be significant sediment settling as the water moved downstream.

Of the 330 pounds that reached the sea an estimated one-half, or 165 pounds, of that would have been at a depth to be pulled into the water intakes, given that there would be further settling of the sediment that contained the dioxin after it reached the sea.

At the end of the 10 year period, if all the above were true and there was no loss of dioxin to other causes (an illogical assumption), the ratio of dioxin in the sea water pulled into the ship systems would be one part dioxin to 34,467,840,000,000 parts sea water. That's 1 part dioxin to 34.467 trillion parts water.

That is one ounce of dioxin in 34.467 trillion ounces of water at the end of the entire 10 year period. Remember this is using the most liberal assumptions to make the calculations and not allowing for any other losses of dioxin content other that settling.

Some things to consider:

It is unlikely that half the total dioxin introduced during the 10 year period actually ended up in the rivers and estuaries. The likely amount is smaller but using this figure gives a greater benefit to the bluewater navy position.

There was certainly a larger loss of dioxin than just that allowed for sediment settling. Current flow and other factors would certainly have aged to the dilution of the concentration.

Since the dioxin was actually introduced over a 10 year period, and we have no true measure of how much was introduced each year, it is impossible to say what the level of dioxin was in the South China Sea at any given time. However if the above is true it would have certainly been considerably less than the one part in 34.467 trillion shown above.