Connecticut may join a growing list of states that have passed resolutions urging Congress to restore the presumption that Blue Water Navy veterans, who served on ships in the coastal waters of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, were exposed to Agent Orange during their service, making them eligible for certain federal veterans' benefits.

While it's come up in past legislative sessions of the Connecticut General Assembly, this is the first time that the resolution has made it out of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military sprayed herbicides, named Agent Orange for the orange-striped barrels in which the herbicide mixture was stored, over Vietnam to destroy vegetation used by the enemy to hide.

The herbicides contained dioxin, a chemical that "has been linked to a number of serious and disabling illnesses affecting thousands of veterans," the resolution says.

The Agent Orange Act of 1991 recognizes certain diseases linked to chemical exposure as service-connected diseases among veterans who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975.

But veterans must prove they had boots on the ground or entered inland waterways anytime during the aforementioned period to be eligible for federal Department of Veterans' Affairs benefits.

"Blue Water Veterans must have actually stepped foot on the land of Vietnam or served on its inland waterways anytime between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975 to be presumed to have been exposed to herbicides when claiming service-connection for diseases related to Agent Orange exposure," the VA's website says.

Raymond Melninkaitis, director of corporate resources for the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association, guessed that 8,000 of the estimated 90,000 Blue Water Navy Veterans live in Connecticut.

"Nearly 90,000 Blue Water vets are depending on you," Melninkaitis testified during a Feb. 23 public hearing of the state Veterans Affairs Committee.

"We are dealing with serious health issues that range from cancer to diabetes, and from Parkinson's to heart disease. Many of these diseases have made it nearly impossible for some of us to get steady work," he told the panel.

The association started an online petition, titled "Give the Vietnam Blue Water Navy Veterans their presumptive rights," which has received nearly 75,000 signatures.

The petition urges Congress to pass the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2015, introduced in both the House and Senate, that would restore presumptive status to Blue Water Navy vets.

"Presumptive status provides expedited claims processing for access to appropriate disability compensation and medical care for Vietnam veterans diagnosed with such illnesses as Type II diabetes, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate cancer, Parkinson's disease, multiple myeloma, peripheral neuropathy, AL amyloidosis, respiratory cancers, soft tissue carcinomas and other diseases yet to be identified," the joint resolution in Connecticut says in part.

The resolution, which was passed by the state Veterans Affairs Committee earlier this month, requires approval by both the state House and Senate.

If passed, Connecticut will join 14 other states that have passed similar resolutions, according to the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association.

Two Blue Water Navy veterans who live in Connecticut also testified at the committee's Feb. 23 public hearing.

Paul Scappaticci of Manchester said he was stationed in the "immediate coastal waters" of Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange through the ship's water supply.

"I ingested the Agent Orange through the food and beverages and showering," Scappaticci testified.

He said he suffers from Type II diabetes, neuropathy in his upper and lower extremities, skin cancer, thyroid cancer and an aggressive form of prostate cancer, the same illnesses as his "brothers who had boots on the ground."

A recently released report from the Institute of Medicine concludes that much still isn't known about the health consequences of Agent Orange.

In his testimony, William Durant Johnstone of New Britain offered several avenues for how Agent Orange got into Danang Harbor, which he said he entered about 23 times while serving on the Navy cruisers USS Providence (CLG-6) and USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5) from November 1967 through March 1970.

"Less than a mile from Danang Harbor and 28 feet above sea level is Danang Airport. This airport was one of the distributions points for Operation Ranch Hand, the operation that delivered out Agent Orange throughout Vietnam. There was a drainage ditch that ran from the airport directly into the harbor," Johnstone said.

The federal VA recently denied Agent Orange benefits to Blue Water Navy veterans who, like Johnstone and Scappaticci, contend they were exposed to it during their wartime service.

j.bergman@theday.com