Tooele Transcript Bulletin
July 8, 2003

6,000 exposed in 60s, 70s military tests

by Michael Rigert
Staff Writer

Though the findings of a recently released government investigation reveal that nearly 6,000 members of the U.S. military were present at chemical and biological tests conducted by Utah's Deseret Test Center in the 1960s and 1970s, it also concludes that none of the nine tests conducted at Dugway Proving Ground used weaponized biological or chemical agents.

On June 30, Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs, announced the completion of the Pentagon's investigation into the 1962-1973 Deseret Test Center operational chemical and biological warfare testing known as Project 112.

With the report the Department of Defense also released the details of six biological warfare tests, which took place at Dugway Proving Ground between 1972 and 1974.

Project 112 testing was part of an evaluation of America's overall defense posture ordered by the Kennedy administration and its capabilities regarding chemical and biological weapons and defenses. The Deseret Test Center, headquartered out of Fort Douglas, Utah, was closed in 1973.

The Pentagon said the investigation was launched three years ago at the request of the Department of Veterans Affairs "to provide information to respond to some veterans' claims that tests conducted in the 1960s and early 1970s may have affected their health."

Of the 134 tests planned during that time span, 84 of them were canceled and 50 were conducted, according to the investigation results.

The Deployment Health Support Directorate, a subsidiary of the Pentagon, completed the study.

Project 112 tests consisted of 21 sea-borne Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD) tests as well as 29 land-based evaluations in Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland Florida, Georgia, Panama, Canada and Britain.

Individual fact sheets on each test are available to the public on the DeploymentLINK Web site at http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/current_issues/shad/shad_intro.shtml.

Austin Camacho, a Deployment Health Support Directorate spokesman, said although "in general, simulants were used in the testing" there were some tests outside of Utah that used Sarin (GB) and VX chemical agents.

Simulants are toxins that react nearly the same way in testing as actual weapons-grade chemical and biological agents but are not harmful to humans or the environment.

According to the fact sheet summary, 13 of the 50 Project 112 testing involved the use of Sarin and VX chemical weapons at locations in Alaska, Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean.

"Most important is that we've run everything to ground and done a good solid search so that when veterans come in with claims and questions, the information will be available," Camacho said. The details of the six newly released tests at Dugway included the following:

• June 1972- November 1973: the testing of payloads for Air Force fighter aircraft using bis (2-ethylhexyl) hydrogen phosphite and trioctyl-phosphite simulants for VX. The investigation said "there is insufficient information for or against long-term effects" of exposure to either simulant.
  
• August 1972- January 1973: The impact of microbiological organisms' decay on microfilaments was evaluated on a series of frames. Simulants bacillus globigii (BG) and serratia marcescens (SM) were used in place of bio-warfare agents. "They have been associated with acute infections (to a variety of body organs) ... but always or nearly always in individuals whose health has already been compromised. Long-term or late-developing health effect would be very unlikely (except perhaps as a complication of the acute infection)," the fact sheet for the test states.
  
• February through June 1973: Similar to the above tests with the addition of the simulant T-3 coliphage.
  
• September through October 1973: Tests evaluated the vulnerability of U.S. Marines' LVTP-7 amphibious vehicle when subjected to a chemical attack. Dimethylmethylphosphonate, a suspected carcinogen, bis (2-ethylhexyl) hydrogen phosphite and trichloropropane were used to simulate VX and Sarin gases.
  
• April to May 1974: A Marine unit's ability to assemble a nuclear weapon during a chemical weapons attack. Dimethylmethylphosphonate was used as a simulant.
  May 1974: U.S. Navy aircraft dropped simulants of VX on a "BIGEYE" vehicle, which was supposed to evaluate hazards to U.S. forces following a chemical attack. Bis (2-ethylhexyl) hydrogen phosphite was the simulant.

The study included providing a list to Veteran's Affairs of all those who were present at the testing. That information was acquired mainly by researching the dates and vessels involved and then accessing corresponding crew rosters from the National Archives.

However, identifying servicemen involved with the land-based tests proved more challenging because many were volunteers from various units. Researchers matched names and service numbers with Social Security numbers to list individuals who were present.

"It was more difficult but we think we located every one," Camacho said.
Congress is currently considering legislation that would require the government to extend additional health care benefits to veterans who participated in the tests regardless of whether

Veterans who believe they were involved in Deseret Test Center tests and desire medical evaluations should call the VA's Helpline at (800) 749-8387. In addition veterans who have Department of Defense-related questions, or who are DoD beneficiaries and have medical concerns or questions, should call DoD's Deployment Health Support Directorate's contact center at (800) 497-6261.

e-mail: mrigert@tooeletranscript.com