Boston Globe, October 9, 2002: Toxic arms tested in states, data show

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The Boston Globe

Wednesday, October 9, 2002

Page A-2

Toxic arms tested in states, data show

House panel to learn of '60s, 70's projects

by Matt Kelley

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The United States held open-air biological and chemical weapons tests in at least four states - Alaska, Hawaii, land and Florida - during the 1960s in an effort to develop defenses against such weapons, according to Pentagon documents.

A series of tests in Alaska from 1965-67 used artillery shells and bombs filled with the nerve agents sarin and VX, the records show.

In addition, the New York Times reported that tests the United States conducted together with the Canadian government, used VX, and tests with Britain used sarin and VX.

The Defense Department planned to release summaries of 28 chemical and biological weapons tests at a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing today. The Associated Press obtained the summaries yesterday.

The documents did not say whether any civilians had been exposed to the poisons. Military personnel exposed to weapons agents would have worn protective gear, the Pentagon says.

The Pentagon previously acknowledged that it had conducted biological and chemical tests, but this was the first time it disclosed that some tests were conducted over land and not out at sea.

The tests were part of Project 122, a military program in the 1969s and 1970s to test chemical and biological weapons and defenses against them. Parts of the testing program done on Navy ships were called Project SHAD, or shipboard hazard and defense.

The tests were directed from the Deseret Test Center, part of a biological and chemical weapons complex in Utah.

Some of those involved in the tests say they now suffer health problems linked to their exposure to dangerous chemicals and germs. They are pressing the Veterans Affairs Department to compensate them and the Defense Department to release more information about the tests.

In response to pressure from veterans and Congress, the Pentagon began releasing details of the tests last year.

The Defense Department has identified nearly 3,000 soldiers involved in tests disclosed earlier, but the VA has sent letters to fewer than half of them. VA and Pentagon officials acknowledged at a July hearing that finding the soldiers has been difficult.