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Show Kills people too Opposition to nerve gas displayed EDGEWOOD, Md. (CPS) "An accident could occur here at any time like it did at Dugway in Utah. Only it won't be 6,400 sheep. It will be 3,000,000 people." That is how Keith D. Garlid, biophysicist at John Hopkins University, Uni-versity, has described the danger Present to the Baltimore metropolitan metro-politan area by the testing of fatal never gas at Edgewood Arsenal in. the open air about 20 miles northeast north-east of the city. Garlid is one of 150 demonstrators demonstra-tors who participated in a July !3 protest against the testing of the gas near such a populated area. The nerve gas outcry began developing when U.S. Rep. Richard Rich-ard McCarthy (D-NNY) spoke out against the Army's plans to ship more than 800 carloads of obso-'ete obso-'ete nerve gas across the country Jr dumping in the Atlantic Ocean. McCarthy's efforts also were instrumental in forcing the Pentagon Pen-tagon to announce that nerve gas as being tested in the air at three American military bases: Ft: McClellan, Ala.; Dugway Proving Ground, Utah and Edgewood. At the Dugway base last year 6,400 sheep were accidentally killed following the improper release re-lease of some of the gas. In another an-other case at the Utah test area, a portion of the proving grounds was permanently contaminated by a biological warfare agent. McCarthy has cited these cases in warning of the dangers of testing test-ing chemical and biological warfare war-fare materials. He has charged that Ft. Derrick, Md., the nation's largest center of biological warfare, war-fare, has had 3,300 accidents connected con-nected with its research in a nine-year nine-year period ending in 1962. Officials Offi-cials argue that the test process is inefficient and clumsy but safe." They say most of the accidents at Ft. Derrick can be attributed to sources other than biological warfare war-fare mishaps. The Pentagon has admitted spending $350,000 million for 'chemical and biological warfare research during the fiscal year just ended. Critics of the research, however, have claimed that the Edgewood Arsenal alone spent $421.5 million. Estimates on the amount spent have ranged higher than $650 million. |