http://www.state.nj.us/dep/
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 26, 2011
Contact: Lawrence Hajna (609) 984-1795
Lawrence Ragonese (609) 292-2994
CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION WINS COURT RULING HOLDING CHEMICAL FIRM FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR PASSAIC RIVER POLLUTION
(11/P90) TRENTON * A Superior Court ruling holding a major chemical company liable for costs associated with the cleanup of sediments in the lower Passaic River contaminated decades ago by a Newark pesticide manufacturing plant marks an important victory for taxpayers of New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie said today.
In a ruling last week, Judge Sebastian P. Lombardi, presiding in Essex County, determined that Occidental Chemical Corp. is responsible under state law for cleanup costs associated with pollution caused by Diamond Alkali/Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Corp., which it acquired and merged into itself in the 1980s.
Diamond Shamrock/Diamond Alkali operated a pesticide and herbicide manufacturing plant on Lister Avenue from 1951 to 1969, polluting the river with an extremely toxic form of dioxin that resulted from the production of the Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange, as well as DDT and other chemicals.
"This is an important ruling for residents of communities along the river, and for all New Jersey taxpayers," Governor Christie said. "It has always been our steadfast position that all companies, not just Occidental Chemical, own up to their responsibility for the environmental damages that they and their predecessors caused."
"This ruling marks an important step in the long history of cleanup of contamination that has severely harmed the lower Passaic River and deprived the public of safe enjoyment of this resource for decades," said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency, the lead agency on the river's cleanup, has estimated the cost of remediation for the most heavily contaminated portion of the river, an eight-mile stretch nearest the Lister Avenue plant, at $1 billion to $4 billion.
Judge Lombardi ruled that Occidental, one of eight companies named in a lawsuit filed by the state, is jointly and severally liable to contribute to the cleanup and removal costs under the state's Spill Compensation and Control Act. Occidental had claimed in court papers that it did not assume responsibility for the contamination from the Lister Avenue site when it acquired corporate stock from Diamond Shamrock.
The EPA and DEP are currently focusing initial river cleanup plans on the eight-mile stretch nearest the plant. Tierra Solutions, another company named in the state's lawsuit, is currently mobilizing to begin work on removing 40,000 cubic yards of the most contaminated sediments immediately adjacent to the pesticides plant. Tierra is making plans for removal of an additional 160,000 cubic yards.
Judge Lombardi has heard arguments on a second state motion that seeks to have Tierra similarly held liable for all past and future state costs. A ruling is expected later this summer.
Pesticides manufactured at the Lister Avenue site included Agent Orange and DDT. Agent Orange consisted of a form of dioxin, known as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). This is one of the most toxic chemicals ever produced.
In 1983, then-Governor Thomas H. Kean declared a state of emergency and authorized the DEP to take steps to protect human health and the environment following the discovery of extremely elevated levels of dioxin in the river. Shortly thereafter, the plant site and river were placed on the EPA's National Priorities List, or Superfund.
Dioxin concentrations in Passaic River fish and crabs are among the highest reported in the world and present an imminent and substantial danger to the public and wildlife. Consumption of dioxin-contaminated crabs and fish greatly increases cancer risks.
As a result, the state has been forced to impose fishing and crabbing bans in the Passaic River or Newark Bay for more than 25 years.
The DEP reminds residents that harvesting blue claw crabs from the waters of the lower river and Newark Bay is prohibited because of the contamination. A coordinated multi-language education effort reinforcing the ban is currently under way, with the help of community groups and municipalities in the lower Passaic River and Newark Bay region.
The state is represented by the Attorney General's Office and special counsel from the firms of Gordon & Gordon of Springfield, N.J., and Jackson Gilmour & Dobbs of Houston.
###
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Vietnamese-American Nick Ut wins Lifetime Award
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/arts-entertainment/10939/vietnamese-american-nick-ut-wins-lifetime-award.htmlVietNamNet Bridge – Besides the Pulitzer and other awards over the years, Associated Press photographer Nick Ut, a Vietnamese American, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian American Journalist Association (AAJA), the Vietnam Reporting Project said.
In 1972, Ut won the Pulitzer Prize for his image of 9-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc as she ran naked and screaming toward his camera, her skin badly burned from a napalm attack on her village during the Vietnam War.
After taking a photo of the girl, Nick rushed the girl to the hospital, saving her life.
READ MORE: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/arts-entertainment/10939/vietnamese-american-nick-ut-wins-lifetime-award.html
Monday, July 25, 2011
Not to be redundant but
Don't Let Them Forget
On the Amendment Senator Coburn (R-OK) sponsored that would cut the list of presumptive Agent Orange exposure connected diseases,
yesterday at about 1730 hours the Amendment was tabled (functionally killed) by a vote of 69 - 30 in the US Senate.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00114
Those voting NOT TO TABLE the Amendment are YOUR elected representatives. They have taken a stand AGAINST your interests:
Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Chambliss (R-GA), Coats (R-IN), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX),Johnson (R-WI), Kirk (R-IL), Kyl (R-AZ), Lee (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Paul (R-KY), Portman (R-OH), Risch (R-ID), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Toomey (R-PA), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)e
On the Amendment Senator Coburn (R-OK) sponsored that would cut the list of presumptive Agent Orange exposure connected diseases,
yesterday at about 1730 hours the Amendment was tabled (functionally killed) by a vote of 69 - 30 in the US Senate.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00114
Those voting NOT TO TABLE the Amendment are YOUR elected representatives. They have taken a stand AGAINST your interests:
Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Chambliss (R-GA), Coats (R-IN), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX),Johnson (R-WI), Kirk (R-IL), Kyl (R-AZ), Lee (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Paul (R-KY), Portman (R-OH), Risch (R-ID), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Toomey (R-PA), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)e
Uncle Sam’s Dioxin Cover-Up
http://mahwah.patch.com/articles/uncle-sams-dioxin-cover-up
Vietnam and New Jersey, despite the vast distance between them, share a deadly link. Both places, lushly beautiful this time of year, were poisoned by United States government actions regarding one of the most toxic chemicals, dioxin.
In Vietnam, dioxin was widely spread as a contaminant in forest-killing Agent Orange herbicides that the US government failed to warn Vietnamese and American soldiers could be deadly to their health. In New Jersey, where Agent Orange was manufactured at a Newark chemical plant and the herbicides were sprayed along power lines and elsewhere for years, the feds failed to warn Americans at home that their health could be endangered by exposure to a widespread substance in our daily environment.
A new documentary, Mann v. Ford, that opened on HBO television channels this week highlights the painful reality for a Garden State community that was poisoned despite government assurances that safety measures were in place to protect people's health from industrial pollution. In a stunningly symbolic scene, two leaders of the contaminated neighborhood walk along a path beside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington on their way to the Capitol Building, their reflected figures weaving in and out among the long columns of names of soldiers who died in the war.
The film focuses on a lawsuit by residents of Ringwood, NJ who sued Ford Motor Company over cancer and other illnesses that beset many of their families after lead-based paint sludge and other industrial waste from a car-assembly plant was dumped near their homes. The dumping occurred in 1967-71, during the height of the war in Vietnam. Like soldiers in Vietnam, residents of the former iron mining community where the dumping occurred were long in the dark as to the hidden dangers of dioxin and other toxic substances.
READ MORE: http://mahwah.patch.com/articles/uncle-sams-dioxin-cover-up
Vietnam and New Jersey, despite the vast distance between them, share a deadly link. Both places, lushly beautiful this time of year, were poisoned by United States government actions regarding one of the most toxic chemicals, dioxin.
In Vietnam, dioxin was widely spread as a contaminant in forest-killing Agent Orange herbicides that the US government failed to warn Vietnamese and American soldiers could be deadly to their health. In New Jersey, where Agent Orange was manufactured at a Newark chemical plant and the herbicides were sprayed along power lines and elsewhere for years, the feds failed to warn Americans at home that their health could be endangered by exposure to a widespread substance in our daily environment.
A new documentary, Mann v. Ford, that opened on HBO television channels this week highlights the painful reality for a Garden State community that was poisoned despite government assurances that safety measures were in place to protect people's health from industrial pollution. In a stunningly symbolic scene, two leaders of the contaminated neighborhood walk along a path beside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington on their way to the Capitol Building, their reflected figures weaving in and out among the long columns of names of soldiers who died in the war.
The film focuses on a lawsuit by residents of Ringwood, NJ who sued Ford Motor Company over cancer and other illnesses that beset many of their families after lead-based paint sludge and other industrial waste from a car-assembly plant was dumped near their homes. The dumping occurred in 1967-71, during the height of the war in Vietnam. Like soldiers in Vietnam, residents of the former iron mining community where the dumping occurred were long in the dark as to the hidden dangers of dioxin and other toxic substances.
READ MORE: http://mahwah.patch.com/articles/uncle-sams-dioxin-cover-up
Walking The Walk
via our good friend Paul Sutton...
From: Phil Steward
Subject: Re: Veteran Who Said He Helped Bury Agent Orange Headed to Korea
To: "Paul Sutton"
Date: Sunday, July 24, 2011, 10:42 PM
I'm here - Today is Monday -
Got in at 4:43 PM Korea Time (Sunday Afternoon) - 3:43 AM Georgia EST Time (Sunday Morning) We were met by members of the Task Force and by the Member of the National Assembly - and about 50 Newspaper, TV Cameras, Reporters. A huge crowd - which included 4 security police, several National Assembly Security, armed Korean National Police and a ton of on-lookers.
All is good here.
More to come later today - including my Testimony before the Korean National Assembly.
Phil Steward
From: Phil Steward
Subject: Re: Veteran Who Said He Helped Bury Agent Orange Headed to Korea
To: "Paul Sutton"
Date: Sunday, July 24, 2011, 10:42 PM
I'm here - Today is Monday -
Got in at 4:43 PM Korea Time (Sunday Afternoon) - 3:43 AM Georgia EST Time (Sunday Morning) We were met by members of the Task Force and by the Member of the National Assembly - and about 50 Newspaper, TV Cameras, Reporters. A huge crowd - which included 4 security police, several National Assembly Security, armed Korean National Police and a ton of on-lookers.
All is good here.
More to come later today - including my Testimony before the Korean National Assembly.
Phil Steward
Veteran who said he helped bury Agent Orange headed to Korea
http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/korea/veteran-who-said-he-helped-bury-agent-orange-headed-to-korea-1.149851
By Ashley Rowland
Stars and Stripes
July 22, 2011
SEOUL — A whistleblower who claims he was ordered to bury Agent Orange at a U.S. military base in 1978 will visit South Korea next week and speak with members of South Korea’s National Assembly, according to South Korean officials and activists.
Steve House, 54, claims he was one of three veterans who buried the toxic defoliant while stationed at Camp Carroll and now suffer health problems because of their exposure to the chemical. The defoliant was widely used during the Vietnam War but has been linked to a number of fatal diseases and severe birth defects.
“This wasn’t what I joined the military for,” House told Stripes in a recent interview from his home in the Phoenix area. “I wanted to defend the country and the Korean people, not hurt them.”
The veterans’ allegations have attracted widespread attention in South Korea and generated significant anger in a country where the environmental condition of U.S. bases has long been a sensitive issue. The U.S. military and South Korea are conducting a joint investigation into their claims, which has included using water sampling and the use of ground-penetrating radar at the site, as well as interviewing dozens of U.S. veterans and South Koreans who once worked on the base.
According to South Korean officials, House was invited by a coalition of more than 80 activist groups who want the U.S. to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations.
An official with the coalition, which includes environmental and leftist groups, said two government opposition parties also asked House to visit Korea, though his claims could not immediately be verified.
The official said another veteran, Phil Steward, who says USFK leaked Agent Orange into the Imjin River, will visit Korea along with House. Travel expenses for both men were being paid for by the coalition and two opposition parties, he said.
House is scheduled to speak to about seven National Assembly members on Monday, and visit areas near Camp Carroll — located near Daegu — and at least one unspecified USFK base in Dongducheon later in the week, the official said. Steward is scheduled to visit areas near other USFK bases.
It was unclear on Friday whether U.S. Forces Korea would allow House and Steward to visit U.S. military installations, including Carroll, or whether USFK had been informed of House’s visit before it was first reported in the South Korean press on Friday.
An official with the Ministry of Environment said Friday that the results of soil sampling will not be available until late August, though water sampling results may be released next week.
rowlanda@pstripes.osd.mil
chang.yookyong@pstripes.osd.mil
By Ashley Rowland
Stars and Stripes
July 22, 2011
SEOUL — A whistleblower who claims he was ordered to bury Agent Orange at a U.S. military base in 1978 will visit South Korea next week and speak with members of South Korea’s National Assembly, according to South Korean officials and activists.
Steve House, 54, claims he was one of three veterans who buried the toxic defoliant while stationed at Camp Carroll and now suffer health problems because of their exposure to the chemical. The defoliant was widely used during the Vietnam War but has been linked to a number of fatal diseases and severe birth defects.
“This wasn’t what I joined the military for,” House told Stripes in a recent interview from his home in the Phoenix area. “I wanted to defend the country and the Korean people, not hurt them.”
The veterans’ allegations have attracted widespread attention in South Korea and generated significant anger in a country where the environmental condition of U.S. bases has long been a sensitive issue. The U.S. military and South Korea are conducting a joint investigation into their claims, which has included using water sampling and the use of ground-penetrating radar at the site, as well as interviewing dozens of U.S. veterans and South Koreans who once worked on the base.
According to South Korean officials, House was invited by a coalition of more than 80 activist groups who want the U.S. to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations.
An official with the coalition, which includes environmental and leftist groups, said two government opposition parties also asked House to visit Korea, though his claims could not immediately be verified.
The official said another veteran, Phil Steward, who says USFK leaked Agent Orange into the Imjin River, will visit Korea along with House. Travel expenses for both men were being paid for by the coalition and two opposition parties, he said.
House is scheduled to speak to about seven National Assembly members on Monday, and visit areas near Camp Carroll — located near Daegu — and at least one unspecified USFK base in Dongducheon later in the week, the official said. Steward is scheduled to visit areas near other USFK bases.
It was unclear on Friday whether U.S. Forces Korea would allow House and Steward to visit U.S. military installations, including Carroll, or whether USFK had been informed of House’s visit before it was first reported in the South Korean press on Friday.
An official with the Ministry of Environment said Friday that the results of soil sampling will not be available until late August, though water sampling results may be released next week.
rowlanda@pstripes.osd.mil
chang.yookyong@pstripes.osd.mil
Salt of The Earth*
Hero's Reception for Returning Soldier -- and His Vietnam Veteran Father
http://plainfield.patch.com/articles/heros-reception-for-returning-soldier-and-his-vietnam-veteran-father Plainfield, Illinois
Alex Pavia surprised by welcome home celebration after two-year stint in Afghanistan; he and his father receive 'quilts of valor' from Fox Valley Marines.
by Robyn Monaghan
Pete Pavia and his son Alex both have Purple Hearts from combat they saw in two different wars.
Pete has a rare cancer that he’s pretty sure is a souvenir from the Agent Orange he was exposed to in Vietnam.
Alex has anxiety attacks and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury after being “blown up several times” during a recent Army tour in Afghanistan, once by an improvised explosive device and once by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Yet both men said Tuesday that they count their blessings as Alex was welcomed home to Plainfield with a motorcade of flag-flying cars and motorcycles organized by Operation Welcome You Home and Warriors' Watch Riders.
“I feel like the luckiest man alive,” Pete Pavia said as a throng of well-wishers encircled the doorstep of his northwest Plainfield home.
Alex Pavia, 21, an Army private first class and Plainfield North High School graduate, has been in Afghanistan since last summer, serving as a forward observer with radio equipment in Kandahar.
He won’t forget helping local children, handing out basics such as shoes and food, he said.
“The things we take for granted …,” he said.
“My dad is the reason I went into the service,” he said. “He served his country and I wanted to do the same.”
READ MORE: http://plainfield.patch.com/articles/heros-reception-for-returning-soldier-and-his-vietnam-veteran-father
*Salt of The Earth
Lyrics by MickJagger & Keith Richards, 1968
Say a prayer for the common foot soldier
Spare a thought for his back breaking work
Say a prayer for his wife and his children
Who burn the fires and who still till the earth
http://plainfield.patch.com/articles/heros-reception-for-returning-soldier-and-his-vietnam-veteran-father Plainfield, Illinois
Alex Pavia surprised by welcome home celebration after two-year stint in Afghanistan; he and his father receive 'quilts of valor' from Fox Valley Marines.
by Robyn Monaghan
Pete Pavia and his son Alex both have Purple Hearts from combat they saw in two different wars.
Pete has a rare cancer that he’s pretty sure is a souvenir from the Agent Orange he was exposed to in Vietnam.
Alex has anxiety attacks and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury after being “blown up several times” during a recent Army tour in Afghanistan, once by an improvised explosive device and once by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Yet both men said Tuesday that they count their blessings as Alex was welcomed home to Plainfield with a motorcade of flag-flying cars and motorcycles organized by Operation Welcome You Home and Warriors' Watch Riders.
“I feel like the luckiest man alive,” Pete Pavia said as a throng of well-wishers encircled the doorstep of his northwest Plainfield home.
Alex Pavia, 21, an Army private first class and Plainfield North High School graduate, has been in Afghanistan since last summer, serving as a forward observer with radio equipment in Kandahar.
He won’t forget helping local children, handing out basics such as shoes and food, he said.
“The things we take for granted …,” he said.
“My dad is the reason I went into the service,” he said. “He served his country and I wanted to do the same.”
READ MORE: http://plainfield.patch.com/articles/heros-reception-for-returning-soldier-and-his-vietnam-veteran-father
*Salt of The Earth
Lyrics by MickJagger & Keith Richards, 1968
Say a prayer for the common foot soldier
Spare a thought for his back breaking work
Say a prayer for his wife and his children
Who burn the fires and who still till the earth
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Don't Let Them Forget
On the Amendment Senator Coburn (R-OK) sponsored that would cut the list of presumptive Agent Orange exposure connected diseases,
yesterday at about 1730 hours the Amendment was tabled (functionally killed) by a vote of 69 - 30 in the US Senate.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00114
Those voting NOT TO TABLE the Amendment are YOUR elected representatives. They have taken a stand AGAINST your interests:
Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Chambliss (R-GA), Coats (R-IN), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX),Johnson (R-WI), Kirk (R-IL), Kyl (R-AZ), Lee (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Paul (R-KY), Portman (R-OH), Risch (R-ID), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Toomey (R-PA), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)e
yesterday at about 1730 hours the Amendment was tabled (functionally killed) by a vote of 69 - 30 in the US Senate.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00114
Those voting NOT TO TABLE the Amendment are YOUR elected representatives. They have taken a stand AGAINST your interests:
Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Chambliss (R-GA), Coats (R-IN), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX),Johnson (R-WI), Kirk (R-IL), Kyl (R-AZ), Lee (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Paul (R-KY), Portman (R-OH), Risch (R-ID), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Toomey (R-PA), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)e
You Don't Say?
Lung problems found in Iraq, Afghanistan Veterans
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-veterans-idUSTRE76J78720110721?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
By Gene Emery
NEW YORK | Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:17am EDT
(Reuters Health) - Shortness of breath and reduced fitness among some military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan may be caused by lung damage from smoke, sandstorms and toxins, a new study suggests.
Researchers who performed lung biopsies on 38 veterans with unexplained breathing problems found a form of tissue damage -- called constrictive bronchiolitis -- that is rare in young adults and doesn't show up in standard tests.
In all but one case, a "lacy black pigment" also coated the delicate lung surfaces.
Dr. Robert Miller of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center said the cases, which he has been gathering for years, are apparently caused by exposure to airborne toxins during deployment.
"We believe they're deployed to some pretty toxic environments. They're exposed to burning solid waste, burning human waste (particularly in Iraq), and consistently exposed to fine particulate matter that's easily inhaled deep into the lungs at a level that's above what's desirable," Miller told Reuters Health in a telephone interview.
Dust storms and combat smoke may also be a factor. Previous research has suggested that service in the Middle East increases the risk of breathing problems.
Among the volunteers examined in the new study -- primarily members of the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Kentucky -- most had long-term exposure to a sulfur-mine fire that burned for 30 days in 2003 near Mosul, Iraq, Miller and his colleagues write in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In all, Miller's team tested 80 previously fit soldiers who no longer met the Army's physical fitness standards.
Forty-nine agreed to undergo an invasive lung biopsy procedure after chest X-rays and other standard tests did not reveal the cause of their problems.
All 49 had tissue samples that were judged to be abnormal. The diagnosis of constrictive bronchiolitis -- a thickening of the walls of the smallest lung passages, the bronchioles -- was made in 38 cases (35 men and three women). Seven were active smokers and six were former smokers.
READ MORE: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-veterans-idUSTRE76J78720110721?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-veterans-idUSTRE76J78720110721?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
By Gene Emery
NEW YORK | Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:17am EDT
(Reuters Health) - Shortness of breath and reduced fitness among some military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan may be caused by lung damage from smoke, sandstorms and toxins, a new study suggests.
Researchers who performed lung biopsies on 38 veterans with unexplained breathing problems found a form of tissue damage -- called constrictive bronchiolitis -- that is rare in young adults and doesn't show up in standard tests.
In all but one case, a "lacy black pigment" also coated the delicate lung surfaces.
Dr. Robert Miller of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center said the cases, which he has been gathering for years, are apparently caused by exposure to airborne toxins during deployment.
"We believe they're deployed to some pretty toxic environments. They're exposed to burning solid waste, burning human waste (particularly in Iraq), and consistently exposed to fine particulate matter that's easily inhaled deep into the lungs at a level that's above what's desirable," Miller told Reuters Health in a telephone interview.
Dust storms and combat smoke may also be a factor. Previous research has suggested that service in the Middle East increases the risk of breathing problems.Among the volunteers examined in the new study -- primarily members of the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Kentucky -- most had long-term exposure to a sulfur-mine fire that burned for 30 days in 2003 near Mosul, Iraq, Miller and his colleagues write in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In all, Miller's team tested 80 previously fit soldiers who no longer met the Army's physical fitness standards.
Forty-nine agreed to undergo an invasive lung biopsy procedure after chest X-rays and other standard tests did not reveal the cause of their problems.
All 49 had tissue samples that were judged to be abnormal. The diagnosis of constrictive bronchiolitis -- a thickening of the walls of the smallest lung passages, the bronchioles -- was made in 38 cases (35 men and three women). Seven were active smokers and six were former smokers.
READ MORE: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-veterans-idUSTRE76J78720110721?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
URGENT! URGENT! URGENT! UPDATE
The Amendment sponsored by Senator Coburn (R-OK) has been tabled (functionally killed) by a vote of 69 - 30 in the US Senate.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00114
Those voting NOT TO TABLE the Amendment are:
Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Chambliss (R-GA), Coats (R-IN), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX),Johnson (R-WI), Kirk (R-IL), Kyl (R-AZ), Lee (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Paul (R-KY), Portman (R-OH), Risch (R-ID), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Toomey (R-PA), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)e
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=1&vote=00114
Those voting NOT TO TABLE the Amendment are:
Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Blunt (R-MO), Chambliss (R-GA), Coats (R-IN), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX),Johnson (R-WI), Kirk (R-IL), Kyl (R-AZ), Lee (R-UT), Lugar (R-IN), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Paul (R-KY), Portman (R-OH), Risch (R-ID), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Toomey (R-PA), Vitter (R-LA), Wicker (R-MS)e
URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!
Would YOU want Senator Coburn providing YOUR medical care?
Time for everyone to contact your US Senator, urging a "NO" vote on this damaging and totally unnecessary amendment that is intended to not only reverse the recent additions of diabetes, ischemic heart disease and certain cancers; but, also to undermine and/or "gut" P. L. 102 -4, which too many of us fought a ten plus year battle getting enacted by Congress and signed by Bush the First in February 1991.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d112:24:./temp/~bd8Cme::
S.AMDT.564 to H.R.2055 To require evidence of causal relationships for presumptions by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of service connection for diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents.
Sponsor: Sen Coburn, Tom [OK] (introduced 7/19/2011) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 7/19/2011 Senate amendment proposed (on the floor)
http://coburn.senate.gov/public/?p=ContactForm
OFFICE PHONE: 202-224-5754
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Agencies ignore evidence of cancer risk from dioxin emissions at the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility
http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2011/07/mondays_commentary_agencies_ig.html
By Donald L. Hassig
During the years that the Onondaga County incinerator has been in operation, a substantial body of scientific knowledge has accumulated that serves as a basis for the conclusion that exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) imposes more than an acceptable quantity of cancer risk upon the average consumer of animal fats. POPs are contaminants of all animal fat and accumulate at the highest levels in the bodies of organisms at the top of food chains.
Consideringthis hazard, it would be most beneficial to the public health for Onondaga County to begin disposing of its garbage in a way that does not create POPs. The dioxin emissions of the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility, a municipal solid waste incinerator in Jamesville, add POPs to the environment and the food supply at a time when POPs contamination already is above a safe level.
Government entities — including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the state Department of Health and the Onondaga County Public Health Department — have failed to use existing scientific knowledge to minimize the cancer risk imposed upon Onondaga County residents by the operation of the incinerator, which is permitted by the DEC under the Clean Air Act.
In attempting to hold government accountable, Cancer Action NY has filed formal complaints against former director of EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment, Dr. Peter Preuss; DEC Division of Air Resources toxicologist, Dr. Thomas Gentile; and the state Department of Health. They have ignored the existing scientific knowledge on the subject of dioxin exposure cancer risk.
Cancer Action NY alleges that as director of the National Center for Environmental Assessment, the lead agency on the EPA dioxin reassessment, Preuss delayed finalization of the EPA dioxin reassessment. The complaint was filed on May 21, 2010, in the Office of the EPA Inspector General. There has been no response.
READ MORE: http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2011/07/mondays_commentary_agencies_ig.html
By Donald L. Hassig
During the years that the Onondaga County incinerator has been in operation, a substantial body of scientific knowledge has accumulated that serves as a basis for the conclusion that exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) imposes more than an acceptable quantity of cancer risk upon the average consumer of animal fats. POPs are contaminants of all animal fat and accumulate at the highest levels in the bodies of organisms at the top of food chains.
Consideringthis hazard, it would be most beneficial to the public health for Onondaga County to begin disposing of its garbage in a way that does not create POPs. The dioxin emissions of the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Facility, a municipal solid waste incinerator in Jamesville, add POPs to the environment and the food supply at a time when POPs contamination already is above a safe level.
Government entities — including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the state Department of Health and the Onondaga County Public Health Department — have failed to use existing scientific knowledge to minimize the cancer risk imposed upon Onondaga County residents by the operation of the incinerator, which is permitted by the DEC under the Clean Air Act.
In attempting to hold government accountable, Cancer Action NY has filed formal complaints against former director of EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment, Dr. Peter Preuss; DEC Division of Air Resources toxicologist, Dr. Thomas Gentile; and the state Department of Health. They have ignored the existing scientific knowledge on the subject of dioxin exposure cancer risk.
Cancer Action NY alleges that as director of the National Center for Environmental Assessment, the lead agency on the EPA dioxin reassessment, Preuss delayed finalization of the EPA dioxin reassessment. The complaint was filed on May 21, 2010, in the Office of the EPA Inspector General. There has been no response.
READ MORE: http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2011/07/mondays_commentary_agencies_ig.html
Port Angeles dioxin level high
Risk not great, experts say after study by Ecology Department
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20110718/NEWS/307189994/port-angeles-dioxin-level-high-but-risk-not-great-experts-say-after
PORT ANGELES (Washington)— Port Angeles, with its long history of mills, appears to have a higher level of dioxin in its soil than most communities, according to the state Department of Ecology.
Yet, residents should not worry, said Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties.
“As long as people don't eat the dirt, the dirt is not dangerous to them,” he said.
A recently released study by Ecology traced the sources of dioxin, a carcinogen, in 85 samples taken in Port Angeles in fall 2008. The purpose was to determine how much of the contaminate may be the responsibility of Rayonier Inc.
Ecology is requiring Rayonier to clean up its former Port Angeles mill site.
The study traced the chemical to several sources, including chimneys, pesticides and hog fuel boilers used by mills, including Rayonier.
Forty of the 85 samples exceeded the cleanup level of 11 parts per trillion, an amount higher than levels found in other cities where similar studies have been done, said Connie Groven, environmental engineer with Ecology.
READ MORE: http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20110718/NEWS/307189994/port-angeles-dioxin-level-high-but-risk-not-great-experts-say-after
Monday, July 18, 2011
WHOOPS!
from the blogger his ownself...Back Up is not something you only do in an automobile!
My computer took a giant DUMP about 2 weeks ago and I am still trying to reassemble the pieces that resemble a broken window.
I am getting closer to retrieving ALL the e-mail addresses of those of you who are so faithful to the Agent Orange Zone.
As soon as I get everything back into some readable form we'll be back on line and up and running again.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.
My computer took a giant DUMP about 2 weeks ago and I am still trying to reassemble the pieces that resemble a broken window.
I am getting closer to retrieving ALL the e-mail addresses of those of you who are so faithful to the Agent Orange Zone.
As soon as I get everything back into some readable form we'll be back on line and up and running again.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
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Partners reach milestone in San Jacinto River cleanup
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/article_8b44a33d-4479-59af-b2e2-1735a0b15317.html
By STEPHEN THOMAS | 0 comments
Along an eastbound service road, a couple of miles from the intersection of Interstate 10 and the west bank of the San Jacinto River in Channelview, stands a white sign that reminds motorists of the littering prohibition. Near the intersection ahead lay a major milestone in the cleanup of an epic discharge of waste containing the deadly chemical dioxin.
New signs are posted there, each of which begins with the centered word “DANGER!” in red capital letters and with an exclamation point, reminding citizens of a seafood consumption advisory.
The area is designated the San Jacinto River Waste Pits Superfund Site, where a protective barrier designed to contain the release of dioxin into the river is near completion, Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan announced at the site on Wednesday, July 6. Environmental sampling continues in the pursuit of a permanent solution and toward the protection of residents and others who fish from that area and in waters that wind down into Galveston Bay.Following Ryan’s 2008 election, the county attorney’s office prioritized the amelioration of the environmental and public-health hazard. The office accordingly, in conjunction with Harris County Precinct 2, negotiated a memorandum of understanding which, in effect, documented the remedial partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6, the State of Texas and two corporations, the industrial processes of which released the unintended contamination. They are McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corporation and International Paper Company.
READ MORE: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/article_8b44a33d-4479-59af-b2e2-1735a0b15317.html
Press agencies join efforts to help AO victims
http://english.vovnews.vn/Home/Press-agencies-join-efforts-to-help-AO-victims/20117/128152.vov
Many domestic press agencies signed a cooperation agreement with the “Life is Beautiful” programme in Hanoi on July 6, in a bid to provide support to the Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims.
They are the Vietnam Television’s Department for Foreign Service (VTV4), Nhan dan online newspaper, Dan Tri newspaper, Tien Phong online newspaper and Hanoi Moi newspaper, which will serve as a bridge linking 5.3 million people living with disabilities nationwide with benefactors.
Broadcast on VTV4 channel since 2009, “Life is Beautiful” programme aims to raise public awareness and funds for the disabled and AO/dioxin victims in the country.
More information about this programme can be found at www.cuocsongvantuoidep.vn in the Vietnamese language or http://lifeisbeautiful.vn in the English language.
Many domestic press agencies signed a cooperation agreement with the “Life is Beautiful” programme in Hanoi on July 6, in a bid to provide support to the Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims.
They are the Vietnam Television’s Department for Foreign Service (VTV4), Nhan dan online newspaper, Dan Tri newspaper, Tien Phong online newspaper and Hanoi Moi newspaper, which will serve as a bridge linking 5.3 million people living with disabilities nationwide with benefactors.
Broadcast on VTV4 channel since 2009, “Life is Beautiful” programme aims to raise public awareness and funds for the disabled and AO/dioxin victims in the country.
More information about this programme can be found at www.cuocsongvantuoidep.vn in the Vietnamese language or http://lifeisbeautiful.vn in the English language.
Ranchers using Agent Orange to deforest the Amazon
http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0706-agent_orange_amazon.html
180 hectares (450 acres) of rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon were defoliated using a potent mix of herbicides dropped by airplane, reports IBAMA, Brazil's environmental law enforcement agency.
The affected area, which is south of the city of Canutama and near the Mapinguari Jacareúba / Katawixi indigenous reservation in Rondônia, was first detected by Brazil's deforestation monitoring system. A subsequent helicopter overflight last month by IBAMA revealed thousands of trees largely stripped of their vegetation. Authorities later found nearly four tons of chemicals — 2,4 - D AMINE 72, U46BR, Garlon 480, and mineral oil — along trans-Amazon highway 174. The herbicides would have been enough to defoliate roughly 3,000 ha (7,500 acres) of forest, which would then be cleared for cattle ranching or agriculture.
IBAMA says use of chemical defoliants is a relatively new phenomenon in the region, but represents a troubling development, according to Cicero Furtado, coordinator of the investigation.
READ MORE: http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0706-agent_orange_amazon.html
180 hectares (450 acres) of rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon were defoliated using a potent mix of herbicides dropped by airplane, reports IBAMA, Brazil's environmental law enforcement agency.
The affected area, which is south of the city of Canutama and near the Mapinguari Jacareúba / Katawixi indigenous reservation in Rondônia, was first detected by Brazil's deforestation monitoring system. A subsequent helicopter overflight last month by IBAMA revealed thousands of trees largely stripped of their vegetation. Authorities later found nearly four tons of chemicals — 2,4 - D AMINE 72, U46BR, Garlon 480, and mineral oil — along trans-Amazon highway 174. The herbicides would have been enough to defoliate roughly 3,000 ha (7,500 acres) of forest, which would then be cleared for cattle ranching or agriculture.
IBAMA says use of chemical defoliants is a relatively new phenomenon in the region, but represents a troubling development, according to Cicero Furtado, coordinator of the investigation.
READ MORE: http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0706-agent_orange_amazon.html
C-123K Aircrews: Agent Orange Exposure 1972-1982
http://www.c123kcancer.blogspot.com/
USAF IG complaint filed 5/06/11: AF didn't inform aircrews about Agent Orange Exposure! Complaint dismissed 6/9/11 - referred to VA and AF Historical Office? R-U-Serious?
There is a community of us who loved, flew and maintained the C-123K Provider in the years following the return of the aircraft from Vietnam until its retirement in 1982. Some of us are Vietnam vets, most served also in Desert Storm, many in Iraqi/Enduring Freedom. Some of us flew as primary aircrew and career trash haulers, aeromedical evacuation crew or ACMs, but the point is...many of us have cancer!
Turns out the Air Force concluded in 1993 (perhaps even earlier) that many of the Providers were too contaminated for resale as surplus, even after extensive cleaning and replacement of interior components, and the passing of nearly a quarter century!
On 28 Apr 2011 I located this fact in a decision by a board of the General Services Administration (GSBCA14165, Sept 2000) dealing with a lawsuit involving resale of the Providers for commercial use, wherein the GSA happened to include reports from Air Force toxicologists that many of the aircraft stored at the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB remained contaminated with dioxin and other toxins! There's no conspiracy here (except perhaps by the Director of the Office of Environmental Law for the Air Force..click for their memo)...its just that nobody got around to having the thought that we'd like to know we'd been exposed. A "minor" oversight? Really? Somehow, the question about our exposure never seems to have been raised. Hard to believe these reports were written by people calling themselves our comrades-in-arms, scientists, physicians, attorneys, officers and leaders!
In particular, Patches (Tail #362) at Wright-Pat has received special attention, with a very detailed study prepared by the Air Force Medical Service in 1994. Identified as AL-OE-BR-CL-1994-0203, the study concludes (and backed up by the May 2011 Oregon Health Sciences University analysis of the Air Force data) that Patches is "heavily contaminated", "extremely hazardous/dangerous" and recommended that museum personnel not work around or enter the aircraft without Tyvek protective clothing and HEPA masks, followed by decontamination.
READ MORE: http://www.c123kcancer.blogspot.com/
Widow of Veteran Granted Benefits after Eleven Years
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/6/prweb8606589.htm
South Portland, ME (PRWEB)
Ethel Brown, the widow of a Vietnam Veteran, made a claim for benefits based on her belief that her husband had contracted stomach cancer and subsequently died because of Agent Orange exposure during his service in Vietnam. The firm of Jackson & MacNichol persuasively briefed the case, and after weighing the medical opinions, the Board found in Ms. Brown’s favor. This was a huge victory because no one else in the country has succeeded in persuading the Board that stomach cancer could be caused by Agent Orange. Source: Board of Veterans' Appeals decision on Docket No. 02-02 971, June 15, 2011.
In 2000, Ethel Brown, the widow of Vietnam Veteran Thomas T. Brown, made a claim for benefits based on her belief that her husband had contracted stomach cancer and subsequently died because of Agent Orange exposure during his service in Vietnam. Mr. Brown had done two tours of duty in Vietnam and Mrs. Brown contended that she should be granted DIC (Dependency and Indemnity Compensation) benefits. Source: Board of Veterans' Appeals decision on Docket No. 02-02 971, June 15, 2011.
In 2008 her claim had reached the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Washington, DC. (Docket No. 07-2220). On July 1, 2009 Judge Davis wrote a single judge opinion reversing the unfavorable decision by the Board of Veterans Appeals and remanding the case for a new hearing by the Board.
The turning point of the case came when a local oncologist who is also a professor at the University of New England Medical School in Maine, Dr. Brian Dorsk, explained that although stomach cancer is not one of the many cancers that has been associated with Agent Orange, based on the limited studies available he felt that it was as probable as not that Mr. Brown’s stomach cancer was related to his exposure to Agent Orange. After weighing the medical opinions provided by the VA opposing Ms. Brown’s claim and Dr. Dorsk’s opinion that the chemicals which make up Agent Orange could have caused the cancer, the Board found in Ms. Brown’s favor. Source: Board of Veterans' Appeals decision on Docket No. 02-02 971, June 15, 2011, pages 9-11. This was a huge victory because no one else in the country has succeeded in persuading the Board that stomach cancer could be caused by Agent Orange.
Mrs. Brown will now get her monthly benefits retroactive to the filing of her claim back in 2000.
South Portland, ME (PRWEB)
Ethel Brown, the widow of a Vietnam Veteran, made a claim for benefits based on her belief that her husband had contracted stomach cancer and subsequently died because of Agent Orange exposure during his service in Vietnam. The firm of Jackson & MacNichol persuasively briefed the case, and after weighing the medical opinions, the Board found in Ms. Brown’s favor. This was a huge victory because no one else in the country has succeeded in persuading the Board that stomach cancer could be caused by Agent Orange. Source: Board of Veterans' Appeals decision on Docket No. 02-02 971, June 15, 2011.
In 2000, Ethel Brown, the widow of Vietnam Veteran Thomas T. Brown, made a claim for benefits based on her belief that her husband had contracted stomach cancer and subsequently died because of Agent Orange exposure during his service in Vietnam. Mr. Brown had done two tours of duty in Vietnam and Mrs. Brown contended that she should be granted DIC (Dependency and Indemnity Compensation) benefits. Source: Board of Veterans' Appeals decision on Docket No. 02-02 971, June 15, 2011.
In 2008 her claim had reached the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Washington, DC. (Docket No. 07-2220). On July 1, 2009 Judge Davis wrote a single judge opinion reversing the unfavorable decision by the Board of Veterans Appeals and remanding the case for a new hearing by the Board.
The turning point of the case came when a local oncologist who is also a professor at the University of New England Medical School in Maine, Dr. Brian Dorsk, explained that although stomach cancer is not one of the many cancers that has been associated with Agent Orange, based on the limited studies available he felt that it was as probable as not that Mr. Brown’s stomach cancer was related to his exposure to Agent Orange. After weighing the medical opinions provided by the VA opposing Ms. Brown’s claim and Dr. Dorsk’s opinion that the chemicals which make up Agent Orange could have caused the cancer, the Board found in Ms. Brown’s favor. Source: Board of Veterans' Appeals decision on Docket No. 02-02 971, June 15, 2011, pages 9-11. This was a huge victory because no one else in the country has succeeded in persuading the Board that stomach cancer could be caused by Agent Orange.
Mrs. Brown will now get her monthly benefits retroactive to the filing of her claim back in 2000.
Agent Orange Comes Home to Roost
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/01/agent-orange-comes-home-to-roost/
by Ed Mattson
Background research with help from Harold Saive - Veterans For Peace Chapter 136
Many know me as a writer and a volunteer with the National Guard Bureau of International Affairs State Partnership Program. I am not a “dupe” of Big Government, though politically I am probably to the right of Atilla the Hun. I believe all governments are self-serving and try to rule well beyond their ability and the reason they were elected to office. I also believe governments in general, never intend to have what they legislate turn out all wrong, but it happens far more often than most of us would like.
We are all aware of the asbestos debacle. This was a product that was the best known fire protection/insulation material of its day and was mandated into nearly every building specification, military war ship, and countless other programs and projects to protect against fire. Brake linings of cars and trucks, and thousands of uses turned into nightmares for those who were exposed. The repercussions rocked the manufacturing world as Johns-Manville, the leading manufacturer of asbestos was almost “run-out-of-town-on-a-rail” from class action lawsuits, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1982. It emerged from bankruptcy in 1988, but was permanently tarnish with creating the product that caused most of the lung related disease, including mesothelioma, many are afflicted with today. Are they really the bad guy here or were they pawns in meeting untested government mandates and specifications? You decide.
The case against Agent Orange, a defoliant manufactured by Dow Chemical and Monsanto, has many similar characteristics for the havoc it has reigned down on the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of military and civilian personnel who were exposed to it in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era
Major Tự Đức Phang was exposed to dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange during and since the Vietnam War.
READ MORE: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/01/agent-orange-comes-home-to-roost/
by Ed Mattson
Background research with help from Harold Saive - Veterans For Peace Chapter 136
Many know me as a writer and a volunteer with the National Guard Bureau of International Affairs State Partnership Program. I am not a “dupe” of Big Government, though politically I am probably to the right of Atilla the Hun. I believe all governments are self-serving and try to rule well beyond their ability and the reason they were elected to office. I also believe governments in general, never intend to have what they legislate turn out all wrong, but it happens far more often than most of us would like.
We are all aware of the asbestos debacle. This was a product that was the best known fire protection/insulation material of its day and was mandated into nearly every building specification, military war ship, and countless other programs and projects to protect against fire. Brake linings of cars and trucks, and thousands of uses turned into nightmares for those who were exposed. The repercussions rocked the manufacturing world as Johns-Manville, the leading manufacturer of asbestos was almost “run-out-of-town-on-a-rail” from class action lawsuits, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1982. It emerged from bankruptcy in 1988, but was permanently tarnish with creating the product that caused most of the lung related disease, including mesothelioma, many are afflicted with today. Are they really the bad guy here or were they pawns in meeting untested government mandates and specifications? You decide.
The case against Agent Orange, a defoliant manufactured by Dow Chemical and Monsanto, has many similar characteristics for the havoc it has reigned down on the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of military and civilian personnel who were exposed to it in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era
Major Tự Đức Phang was exposed to dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange during and since the Vietnam War.
READ MORE: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/01/agent-orange-comes-home-to-roost/
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