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
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