Utah's Fort Douglas veterans may get justice

Bill would benefit vets hurt by chemicals


Published: May 12, 2008 at 7:08 PM

WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- Bipartisan legislation in Congress would provide healthcare benefits to veterans exposed to chemical and germ warfare tests in Utah.

The bill introduced by Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., would require the Veterans Affairs Department to assume that toxins in the tests known as Project 112 and Project SHAD caused injury to the veterans, The Desert Morning News reported Monday.

The designation would make them eligible for medical benefits and/or compensation for illnesses, the newspaper said.

The tests were performed at Utah's Fort Douglas and Dugway Proving Ground.
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http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/05/12/bill_would_benefit_vets_hurt_by_chemicals/9713/

Report Date : MAR 1994

Pagination or Media Count : 10

Abstract : This Remedial Action Plan (RAP), issued by the U.S. Army (Army), identifies the preferred alternatives for cleaning up electrical utility transformers and residential structures containing lead-based paint at Fort Douglas. These contaminated areas are within areas of Fort Douglas that have been transferred to the University of Utah. This transferred property is known as the excessed area. This document explains the rationale for choosing the preferred alternatives and summarizes other alternatives. The Army will select a final remedy for the site only after the information submitted during the public comment period has been reviewed and considered.

Descriptors : *ARMY FACILITIES, *CONTAMINATION, *RISK ANALYSIS, *POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS, POLICIES, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, SITE INVESTIGATIONS, LEGISLATION, ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, HOUSING(DWELLINGS), RESIDENTIAL SECTION, PUBLIC HEALTH, GROUND WATER, POLLUTANTS, WASTE DISPOSAL

Subject Categories :
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
LOGISTICS, MILITARY FACILITIES AND SUPPLIES
SOLID WASTES POLLUTION AND CONTROL
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA461127

Secrets at sea: Cloud of secrecy lifting on Dugway Navy's tests of germ and chemical agents in the Pacific during Vietnam War (reprint)
By Lee Davidson
Deseret Morning News
Published: February 29, 2008
Editor's note: This story, originally published on Sunday, Oct. 22, 1995, is being reprinted online as reference to today's story by Lee Davidson regarding exposure to chemical and germ warfare testing.
· · · · ·
While the 1960s movie and TV series "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" poked fun at the idea of the Army sailing ships, the Army's Dugway Proving Ground and Fort Douglas actually had a secret navy to test germ and chemical arms in the Pacific.

Unlike the Hollywood comedies about World War II, Dugway's Vietnam War era work was deadly serious: — Their ships sailed through clouds of germ and chemical agents, and some sailors now blame cancer and other diseases they suffer on it — or on the mix of chemicals used for decontamination.

• While germ and chemical tests usually occurred in remote areas of the Pacific for safety and secrecy, at least one test was conducted in San Francisco Bay.

• Some of the ships had already been contaminated by radiation when used earlier as test ships during ocean nuclear bomb tests — which sailors also say may have sickened them.

• The ships also conducted tests designed to see if migratory birds could be infected far from an enemy's shores to later fly in and spread diseases — or whether examining birds from afar could show if enemies were working with deadly germs.

• One of the sailors says he was even sent into Laos and Cambodia to discharge germ and chemical weapons for tests — which, if true, likely violated treaties.

The story about Dugway's navy emerges from once-secret documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Deseret News and from interviews with sailors involved.

More documents, including some from a request specifically for data about any U.S. chemical and germ arms work in Cambodia and Laos, have not yet been released. The Pentagon has been reviewing them for months to determine if they will be declassified after they were identified by Dugway.
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http://deseretnews.com/article/content/mobile/0,5223,695257503,00.html