Vets urged to be tested for shrapnel effects

Vets urged to be tested for shrapnel effects
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, September 1, 2008



Veterans are being warned that they should be tested for the effects of shrapnel being carried in their bodies, CNN reported Friday.

Tens of thousands of active-duty and veteran servicemembers who have been wounded will be notified — CNN did not specify when, or by what body — that they may need to be tested to see whether such metals in their bodies are harmful. Blood and urine would be monitored, according to the report.

"The importance is to be able to determine if the patient has been exposed to elements of toxic concern, Dr. Joseph Centeno, a U.S. Army research scientist, told CNN.

Doctors often leave shrapnel in wounded servicemembers’ bodies rather than subject them to the traumas of additional surgery, CNN noted.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57123

I looked for the link to this but couldn't find it. What I did find was several reports on depleted uranium showing up in blood and urine.

Fort Wainwright Family housing is toxic dump site

Army Knew Alaska Base Family Housing Site was Toxic
Carol Goldberg


Public Employees for Environmenal Responsibility

Jul 09, 2008

July 7, 2008, Washington, DC - The U.S. Army knew that the site chosen to build a family housing complex at Fort Wainwright was a toxic dump but proceeded anyway, in violation of federal laws and service policies, according to an audit by the Army’s own Office of Staff Judge Advocate that was released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Despite creating a hugely expensive debacle, sickening workers, spreading pollution and retaliating against whistleblowers, the base command has absolved itself and issued an "outstanding" rating to the official who green-lighted the project.

The January 2007 Army audit questioned "the wisdom of building a family housing complex on top of a known 1950s-era military landfill" and concluded that "the situation with the Taku construction project is the direct result of multiple individuals failing to adhere to Army and federal regulations and guidance."

Nonetheless, the Army command excused the failures at Fort Wainwright by issuing a report just six months later which dismissed any major concerns but skipped over most of the audit findings, including –

Construction workers became ill at both Taku Gardens and another toxic hotspot because the projects were not slowed to properly analyze the sites. As with the illnesses, worker safety in digging through unexploded ordnance was dismissed with one base official stating "if a bulldozer did encounter a live artillery shell, it would simply scare the driver."
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10603

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.
go here for more
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.
go here for more
http://deseretnews.com/article/content/mobile/0,5223,695257503,00.html