<

DoD Releases Info on Cold War Chemical, Biological Weapons Tests
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Dr. Winkenwerder said some civilians were exposed to simulants in Hawaii and possibly exposed in Alaska, Florida, and Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. No live agents were involved in any of the situations where civilians were exposed, he said. VA officials said they are trying to contact the service members involved in the tests. DoD officials said roughly 5,000 sailors were exposed in the shipboard tests and 500 in the Project 112 tests. VA officials said 55 veterans have filed claims related to their "belief of exposure" from the tests.

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
DoD released data on a series of biological and chemical weapons tests conducted aboard ships and at sites in the United States, Canada and Great Britain.

DoD conducted the tests from 1962 through 1971. Roughly 5,500 service members and civilians participated.

The land-based tests, conducted by the Deseret Test Center headquartered at Fort Douglas, Utah, was to examine how chemical and biological agents behave in a variety of climatic and environmental conditions. The code name for these tests was Project 112.

The Navy tests looked at the capabilities of ships to sustain a chemical or biological attack and continue to perform their missions. The acronym for these tests was SHAD -- Shipboard Hazard and Defense.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

Dan