Fort McClellan: More Toxic Than Camp Lejeune?

Fort McClellan: More Toxic Than Camp Lejeune?
Posted by Levi Newman

Fort McClellan is the former home of the U.S. Army Military Police and U.S. Army Chemical Schools. Located in Anniston, Ala., it was one of the largest training posts the Army had to offer before the Environmental Protection Agency closed the fort down in 1999. Nearly 500,000 men were trained there during WWII, and hundreds of thousands of others used this installation to hone their military skills during the post’s 82-year history.

Countless brave men and women spilled blood, sweat and tears over the training grounds. Everyone lived in close quarters and prepared for combat abroad — much like any other fort. But throughout the fort’s long run, there was a dark secret that nobody — save a chemical company — knew about.

Between 1933 and 1999, Fort McClellan was constantly exposed to major biochemical health hazards, including ionizing radiation and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Think about that for a second.

The people living at or around Fort McClellan were soaking up PCBs and other caustic chemicals through the air, water, soil and wildlife, all over a 66-year span. Soldiers were laying in them on the firing range, they filled their canteens with them during “hydration formations,” and they breathed them in while they ran “Cardiac Hill.” And they never suspected a thing.
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