Orange Crush
Jun. 13th, 2005 10:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ltmurnauHere's a blast from my past:
N.B. army base sprayed with toxic chemicals
Last Updated Mon, 13 Jun 2005 11:47:01 EDT
CBC News
A herbicide considered three times more toxic than the cancer-linked Agent Orange was sprayed on a New Brunswick army base in 1966, CBC News has learned.
The government has only acknowledged the harm caused by spraying Agent Orange in 1966 and 1967 at CFB Gagetown. The Canadian military is paying compensation in two cases connected to the spraying. But according to a U.S. army report, the lesser known but more deadly cousin of Agent Orange known as Agent Purple was also sprayed at the base.
Richard van der Jagt, a leukemia specialist at the Ottawa General Hospital, said a study published in the journal Nature estimates that Agent Purple contained three times the cancer-causing material found in Agent Orange.
"Purple is even more laced with dioxin. Dioxin is something we know to be cancer causing," he said.
"These are very toxic agents to human health, something to be very concerned about in public health."
U.S. forces sprayed Agent Orange to defoliate large areas of forest in Vietnam from 1961 to 1971. Use of the herbicide was stopped in 1971 after it was discovered to contain dioxin.
The Canadian military used the spray to clear foliage to prevent fires during artillery training and to clear the view for soldiers.
The federal government also allowed Americans to test the herbicide at the Canadian base during the Vietnam war.
CBC News has also learned that before Agent Orange was tested at Gagetown, the most dangerous ingredient of the herbicide was used as early as 1956 at the base.
A military briefing note to the New Brunswick cabinet shows the ingredient 2,4,5-T was sprayed on thousands of acres.
"Agent Orange and 2,4,5-T have been banned because of their known toxic effects and they've been banned for many years," said van der Jagt.
Earl Graves, who served in the Black Watch Regiment in the 1960s, said he didn't know the base was spraying Agent Purple or Agent Orange.
The retired sergeant, who is now president of the regiment's New Brunswick chapter, said the soldiers were told to cover their heads when the planes flew by.
"They were out in the exercise area and the planes flew over spraying and they were told to just put ponchos over their head, that it wouldn't hurt them," Graves said.
"A lot of us were out in the field. We did exercise, we were on the ground – especially the infantry – laying on the ground, eating the blueberries, drinking the water, swimming in the lakes, you name it."
Graves said 170 soldiers in his regiment died of cancer and many of them died young.
I trained at the Infantry School at Gagetown in the summers of 1983, 1984 and 1985. The area where the defoliants had been most heavily sprayed was still dead - all silvery-gray with dead trees sticking up everywhere. We were warned not to drink the water there, it was stagnant anyway. We did a fair amount of slogging back and forth in the swamps there.
[EDIT: Now the civvies of Gagetown want compensation! http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/06/14/newagent-orange050614.html]
N.B. army base sprayed with toxic chemicals
Last Updated Mon, 13 Jun 2005 11:47:01 EDT
CBC News
A herbicide considered three times more toxic than the cancer-linked Agent Orange was sprayed on a New Brunswick army base in 1966, CBC News has learned.
The government has only acknowledged the harm caused by spraying Agent Orange in 1966 and 1967 at CFB Gagetown. The Canadian military is paying compensation in two cases connected to the spraying. But according to a U.S. army report, the lesser known but more deadly cousin of Agent Orange known as Agent Purple was also sprayed at the base.
Richard van der Jagt, a leukemia specialist at the Ottawa General Hospital, said a study published in the journal Nature estimates that Agent Purple contained three times the cancer-causing material found in Agent Orange.
"Purple is even more laced with dioxin. Dioxin is something we know to be cancer causing," he said.
"These are very toxic agents to human health, something to be very concerned about in public health."
U.S. forces sprayed Agent Orange to defoliate large areas of forest in Vietnam from 1961 to 1971. Use of the herbicide was stopped in 1971 after it was discovered to contain dioxin.
The Canadian military used the spray to clear foliage to prevent fires during artillery training and to clear the view for soldiers.
The federal government also allowed Americans to test the herbicide at the Canadian base during the Vietnam war.
CBC News has also learned that before Agent Orange was tested at Gagetown, the most dangerous ingredient of the herbicide was used as early as 1956 at the base.
A military briefing note to the New Brunswick cabinet shows the ingredient 2,4,5-T was sprayed on thousands of acres.
"Agent Orange and 2,4,5-T have been banned because of their known toxic effects and they've been banned for many years," said van der Jagt.
Earl Graves, who served in the Black Watch Regiment in the 1960s, said he didn't know the base was spraying Agent Purple or Agent Orange.
The retired sergeant, who is now president of the regiment's New Brunswick chapter, said the soldiers were told to cover their heads when the planes flew by.
"They were out in the exercise area and the planes flew over spraying and they were told to just put ponchos over their head, that it wouldn't hurt them," Graves said.
"A lot of us were out in the field. We did exercise, we were on the ground – especially the infantry – laying on the ground, eating the blueberries, drinking the water, swimming in the lakes, you name it."
Graves said 170 soldiers in his regiment died of cancer and many of them died young.
I trained at the Infantry School at Gagetown in the summers of 1983, 1984 and 1985. The area where the defoliants had been most heavily sprayed was still dead - all silvery-gray with dead trees sticking up everywhere. We were warned not to drink the water there, it was stagnant anyway. We did a fair amount of slogging back and forth in the swamps there.
[EDIT: Now the civvies of Gagetown want compensation! http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/06/14/newagent-orange050614.html]
