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Show jreau news MARCH 1968 me A 9)fO o' sealed and delivered to Dugway in approved shipping containers with technical escort and were free of contamination. Handling of the tanks prior to test was performed In normal work clothing. For the handling of those test Items that are filled with toxic agents at Dugway, more extensive protective measures are normal. These Include the wearing of butyl rubber clothing, boots, gloves, gas masks, and head hoods. When personnel are operating in grid areas which are contaminated, the same complete protective clothing is worn. All equipment (including vehicles) used on our contaminated grids is considered to be permanently contaminated and Is kept In the test area. Access to this area Is controlled by a security guard. Personnel are logged In and out so their location is known. During the conduct of an operation an assigned safety officer identifies and controls the location of all test personnel through radio and direct contact. He assures that all personnel are in safe positions with repsect to toxic cloud travel, l.e., safe downwind distances and upwind locations. Following the answering of the 16 questions, General Stone indicated that in testing they have found some depression of the cholinesterase level in both live and dead sheep and in some cattle. This observation is to be expected in any animal or human exposed to an compound," he said. The general added that, with this occurring right on our doorstep and probably involving a chemical similar to materials we have been testing that we are highly suspect." organo-phosphoro- us March 26th Elmo W. Hamilton, wired Dr. E. E. Saulmon, head of urging him to release all material gations into the sheep deaths. president of the Utah Farm Bureau, the USDAs Animal Health Division, in their hands pertaining to investitext of the telegram follows: The Dr. E. E. Saulmon, Director Animal Health Division United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D. C. A toxic nerve agent such as that tested by the U.S. Army Biological Proving Grounds, remains the prime suspect in the sheep deaths. the Utah Farm Bureau, along with all of agriculture in Utah, are concerned about the' ultimate outcome of the investigations into the mysterious deaths of more than 6,000 sheep in Utahs Skull Valley. Warfare specialists at Dugway We in was represented by a member of his the desired flight path with reference to the smoke and ground land- il Stone, 11. Weather conditions at time of test. Scattered low and middle clouds with a high thin overcast was observed for the time of function at near Granite Peak and at Wig Mountain. Low scattered clouds were observed for the spray trial over the Salt Flats. A weak front was in the area. Frontal passage was not well defined. The low pressure area associated with the front during the morning hours had remained al Nevada by late afternoon. stationary and was centered in 12. Land conditions at time of test. The ground condition was dry on all the grids at test time. The valleys and the lower elevations in the mountains were also dry. There was some some cover at the higher elevations in the mountains. 13. Winds aloft, direction, velocity, and gusts at time of test. The winds aloft from the surface to 2300 feet were generally southwest, 5 to 25 miles per hour, with gusts to about 35 miles per hour. The observed data in the target area are as follows: we do not yet know whether ponslble for the death of the sheep." lie Armys answers are given below: e Dugway test of 13 March 1968, was i evaluation program for an aircraft test was the third one of a series of terve agent was sprayed from tanks, by a high performance aircraft at low program was completely routine tests development activities. One objective ng instructions and safety procedures, craft: An Air Force pilot. .rge of Test: Colonel James H. Watts way Proving Ground, was in charge of k high are concerned not only because of the element of possible compensation to owners of the dead sheep, but because of the possibility of recurrence of the affliction not only to sheep but other forms of life. We marks. east-centr- performance aircraft, The report of the early blood tests made by Dr. Kent Van Kampen of the Logan, Utah A.R.S. station on March 18th, along with findings pertaining to poisonous plants could have a great impact on the continuing investigation. Because these tests were made close to the time of death, they are of real significance. us been told that the compounds suspected of killing the sheep, break down rapidly, making later pathological We have organo-phosphoro- tests less reliable. We have been informed that this information compiled by the Logan A,R.S. station is now in the hands of Dr. Rasmussen, head of the Animal Health Division in Salt Lake City. We have also been told that this material cannot be released to the public without your permission. urge you to make this material immediately accessible to the public so that this mystery may be cleared up as rapidly as possible. We rection of Aircraft: The speed of the The altitude was 150 feet above the te. A were released from spray tanks very s used in this test. re accidental field crew exposures on were serious but they did cause ncreaslng the safety factors associated tents ersistent agent involved in these tests agent is characteristically much less ussed further under question 14 below, gallons were released. The pressure nately 6.5 psi. ade on position of aircraft. Ground or known landmarks. The flight pat-sswith the pilot and radio communi-ie- n the pilot and test officer throughout e followed oithis trial was to mark the i pots placed approximately 12 mile made prior to the agent dissemination vas familiar with the area and flying at s verified by ground observers backed runs through their instruments. After ertain that the proper flight pattern and established, the pilot was informed to run. During this run, data were position of the aircraft at any point on ter accuracy from information obtained tie -- theodolites placed at positions sur-- r (1 in 100,000). The pilot monitored eference to flight instruments and flew i Have aircraft tests been conducted before and, if so, what were the results? As noted above, the answer is yes. Aircraft spray is a particularly effective way of employing chemicals whether the chemical be a smoke screen, a riot control agent, or a lethal chemical. Dug-walargest spray programs were the mustard programs of World War II. Nerve agents have been tested in aircraft spray systems extensively, beginning in 1953 and continuing at the present time. Such tests follow a strict procedure. First, trials are conducted ic materials with physical characteristics similar to the using agent later to be tested at Dugway. This is done to evaluate system The critical factor is the size of the droplets properformance. ic duced, since a droplet falls at a rate depending on its mass. The limmaterial is used in trial runs to define the safe operational its for the agent trials. To give some examples, on one of Dugways spray programs in 1961, eight simulant trials were conducted and completely evaluated before running the two agent releases that completed that particular program. Two months of analysis separated the simulant trials from the spray missions using the actual agent. In 14. ys March 27 th it was announced by the Utah State Department of a that sizeable quantity of Heptachlor insecticide had Agriculture been sprayed on the Deseret Livestock range in Skull Valley on Mar. 15. The relation of this to the sheep deaths was discounted since no serious deaths were noted in the Deseret herds and especially because the major group of sheep were affected the day before the spraying. It was also announced that some birds, rabbits and other animals had apparently been affected in the Skull Valley area. non-tox- rslstent nerve agents was initiated in in excess of 100 spray trials were suc- i Elmo W. Hamilton, President Utah Farm Bureau Federation persistent chemical nerve agent, on Sheep, Other Animals and Man: i studied extensively in many types of n about its effect on humans. There is Dncernlng its effect on sheep. During :onducted at Dugway Proving Ground in varying amounts to a control group of eep in these tests were similar to those ch have been studied, ifore in test: For more than ten years at Dugway literally hundreds of times, have been spray trials using aircraft, rogram was a World War n effort ln-- s it ed non-tox- another program, seven simulant trials preceded the three agent missions. Again, several weeks of study intervened. On the first major nerve agent spray evaluation conducted in 1962, 21 simulant trials preceded three agent missions. The point being that rather elaborate evaluations are routinely conducted before authorization to fly a toxic spray mission is granted. The current program is noteworthy in that respect. tanks and Preliminary trials included one test with water-fille- d seven tests with a simulant. Two single tank trials and one two-tatrial had been conducted with simulants before the first agent trial was conducted. The results of these trials fill voluminous test reports and in line with present problem, to date there has been no evidence that toxic clouds ever escaped the confines of the proving ground. It is worth noting that the inhabited area lying nearest to Dugways testing sites houses the wives and children of the scientists conducting Dugways tests. That fact provides an insight into Dugways safety policy that might be overlooked in a detailed review of volumes of test reports. 16. Safeguards used to avoid human contact with agent at DugThe spray tanks used on the subject test were factory filled, way. nk March 28th The Agricultural Research Service responded to Elmo Hamiltons telegram. Their reply read as follows: Please be assured that ARS and all of USDA also concerned about recent sheep losses and are continuing to work toward solving problem. Dr. Rasmussen is free to discuss observations to date. Suggest information from Logan ARS laboratory You will understand that Dr. Rasmussen to discuss observations and not engage in in position to discuss any classified involved." SUMMARY. be obtained from Dr. Binns. and Dr. Binns will wish only speculation. Also will not be information should such be As we go to press the whole mys- tery is still very much unresolved. Meetings between the Army and the various federal agencies are being held behind dosed doors. There is still a guarded air about the people involved in the investigation. At this point we can not without doubt lay the finger of accusation on the Biological Warfare Center at Dugway. Hopefully, by the time our next issue reaches you, the answers will be in the open. |