HAMPTON, Va. - Stephen Kudrick hasn't forgotten the times he was exposed to burn pits during his 20-year career in the Navy.
"I remember being in Afghanistan they would just pile all the trash, whatever they could find, into these huge pits and burn it," Kudrick told News 3 Wednesday.
He says it happened several times. "Back in Iraq before anyone knew what we were being exposed to, the easiest way to deal with all the trash and waste and everything was to burn it," he said.
Now, years later, Kudrick has several respiratory issues. "My lungs are at a decreased capacity now. I've got really bad sinuses. I'm constantly clogged up. I live off of sinus medication and constantly flushing my sinuses out," he said.
Due to a paperwork issue, Kudrick says the VA was not able to connect some of his health issues to his exposures. "My lungs just don't work the way they're supposed to," he said.
On Wednesday morning, President Biden signed the PACT Act into law, which expands healthcare options to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances.
The new law also takes away a requirement to prove health issues are directly connected to toxic exposures for certain conditions.
"That's my hope - that medically with all of this being recognized and acknowledged, they're going to find something to help us all out," said Kudrick.
In addition, the law allows family members of veterans who lived at Camp Lejune in North Carolina from 1953 to 1987 to take legal action against the government.
Toxins in the water during that era have led many who lived there during that era to have serious health issues.
Local attorney Brother Rutter from the Rutter Mills Law Firm represents hundreds of people connected to Camp Lejune.
"It's very rare for the government to consent to being sued in a law like this," Rutter told News 3. "At this point, the government is trying to make it right."
Rutter says they need to move quickly as many of the clients are sick. "Hopefully, we can get help for those people while they're still alive, but unfortunately some of our veterans paid the ultimate sacrifice not actually on the battlefield, but because of their exposure," Rutter said.
Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Virginia), a veteran herself, applauded the legislation for becoming law.
"Congress has a duty to provide for those who served our country, and the PACT Act is an important step to fulfill that duty," she said in a statement to News 3.
