Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Thursday, April 29, 2021
The End
It has been an honor and pleasure to work with the AOZ Staff these last 11 years, but alas, time has come to hang up the scissors and put the paste back in the cupboard.
Physical and other health issues have made it necessary to pull the plug on the Agent Orange Zone.
Many thanks to Paul, Nancy, Mokie, Wayne, and everyone who contributed to AOZ.
Best wishes and keep the peace.
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
A Lush Lawn Without Pesticides
Shortly after Lydia Chambers had her first child, in 1995, her family moved to a new home in Ohio. “It was this neighborhood with perfect lawns,” recalls Chambers, now 60. In her previous home, when a swath of dandelions appeared shortly after she and her husband moved in, she spent two weeks pulling them out by hand.
In their Ohio home, however, she had no time to take care of
the yard. So she hired a service to come and treat it. At the time, she didn’t
realize that the chemicals the service used might be dangerous. “Even though I
kind of sensed it . . . I didn’t know,” she says.
In her professional life as a hydrogeologist, Chambers was
beginning to learn about how long-term, low-dose exposures to dangerous
chemicals could lead to cancer and other chronic diseases. This made her
increasingly suspicious of the pesticides her landscaping company applied. By
2005, her family had moved to New Jersey and her elementary school-aged kids
were playing in the yard constantly. As she did more research, she learned a
particularly disturbing fact: One common weed killer,
2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), was also an ingredient in Agent
Orange, a chemical used during the Vietnam War.
“I guess if anything flipped a switch, it was that,” she
says. Chambers and her husband finally committed to taking care of their yard
with no synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers—even if that meant it
sprouted a few weeds. “I was proud that I had a few weeds in my grass,” she
says. “It was a symbol I was doing the right thing.”
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Amplify Parkinson’s Advocacy from Home
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Service dogs can help veterans with PTSD – growing evidence shows they may reduce anxiety in practical ways
As many as 1 in 5 of the roughly 2.7 million Americans deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder.
We’ve been finding that once veterans with post-traumatic
stress disorder get service dogs, they tend to feel less depressed and less
anxious and miss work less frequently.
Complementing other forms of treatment
The traditional treatments for PTSD, such as talk therapy
and medication, do work for many veterans. But these approaches do not
alleviate the symptoms for all veterans, so a growing number of them are
seeking additional help from PTSD service dogs.
The nation’s estimated 500,000 service dogs aid people
experiencing a wide array of conditions that include visual or hearing
impairments, psychological challenges, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
For our PTSD research, we partner with K9s For Warriors and
Canine Companions for Independence, two of many nonprofits that train service
dogs to work with veterans with PTSD.
There is no single breed that can help people this way.
These dogs can be anything from purebred Labrador retrievers to shelter mixes.
Unlike emotional support dogs or therapy dogs, service dogs
must be trained to do specific tasks – in this case, helping alleviate PTSD
symptoms. In keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act, service dogs are
allowed in public places where other dogs are not.
Monday, March 29, 2021
Sweeping Measure Would Provide Care, Disability to Thousands of Vets Sickened by Burn Pits
A sweeping measure was introduced in the Senate Friday that could open up health care and disability compensation to a huge swath of veterans made sick by burn pits and other toxic exposures during military service.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.,
reintroduced the Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and
Other Toxins Act, which would do away with most of the burden of proof on
veterans to show they got sick from breathing in burning garbage for up to a
year at a time while deployed.
The measure was also introduced last year and never got any
serious traction. This year, its bipartisan sponsorship means it could have a
better chance of becoming law.
Veteran advocates have grown increasingly impatient,
faulting Congress for being unable to pass any significant legislation that
delivers care and compensation to veterans made sick by exposure to burn pits
and other toxic environments. The VA has also not issued clear guidance on who
can get compensation for toxic exposure.
The VA estimates 3.5 million veterans have been exposed to burn pits, according to a 2015 report. Yet the department has denied claims of roughly 75% of veterans. As of January, the VA had approved claims related to burn-pit exposure for 3,442 veterans out of 13,830. It is unlikely the data paints a complete picture. It’s unclear how many suffer from serious burn pit-connected health ailments, or how many veterans are sick and unaware that illness is linked to service abroad.
State: Illegally dumped radioactive fracking waste will stay in E. Oregon landfill
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A state agency has chosen to leave
millions of pounds of illegally dumped, radioactive fracking waste in an
Eastern Oregon landfill.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the Oregon Department of
Energy’s decision Wednesday comes just over a year after it issued a notice of
violation to Chemical Waste Management.
The company operates Oregon’s only hazardous waste landfill,
outside of the Columbia River town of Arlington.
An investigation found CWM had dumped 1,284 tons of
radioactive waste in the landfill over three years.
Oregon law prohibits the establishment of a radioactive
waste disposal facility. The state Department of Energy says removing the waste
“would pose a greater risk to landfill workers than leaving the waste in
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Lawmakers relaunch landmark bill to create path to VA care for veterans ill from toxic exposure
READ THE STORY
Veterans exposed to toxic
substances during their military service could qualify for additional care and
benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs under landmark legislation
reintroduced in Congress this week.
The Toxic Exposure in the
American Military (TEAM) Act creates sweeping mandates for VA to further
research, track and care for eligible veterans who fall ill because of exposure
to toxic substances during service -- perhaps the most comprehensive
legislation on military toxic exposures ever introduced in Congress.
A 29-year-old Marine is dying of
a rare brain cancer. Burn pits caused it, his family says.
The TEAM Act was introduced by
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who represents one of the largest populations of
troops and veterans in the country, including the largest Army base in the
world, Fort Bragg. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who represents Pease Air Force
Base where troops and their families have been exposed to high levels of
"forever chemicals" including PFAS, cosponsored the bill at its
introduction.
Last year, the bill passed out of
the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, a key endorsement, but did not receive a
vote on the Senate floor before the end of the year, meaning it had to be
reintroduced in 2021. Tillis said in a press conference on Tuesday he believed
the reason the bill didn't pass last year was because of its late introduction,
and now he and Hassan are working to partner with House members on a companion
bill, and that additional amendments and provisions are on the table.
"We're trying to put a
framework in place that lets us end mistakes we made dating back to Agent
Orange," Tillis said. "When a veteran is experiencing an illness,
they've got so many other distractions on their mind, we should not make it difficult
for them to get the care they deserve."
Dioxin Mischief Everywhere - 1965–1966: Dioxin Experiments
1965–1966: Dr. Kligman conducted dioxin experiments on 70 prisoners at Holmesburg on behalf of Dow Chemicals. Dioxin has proved fatal in laboratory animals given small doses. These experiments were uncovered in 1980 at EPA hearings. (NY Times, 1983) In testing dioxin, a component of Agent Orange, Kligman went beyond Dow Chemical’s instructions. The Times reported that Kligman subjected 10 inmates to 7,500 micrograms of the toxic chemical — 468 times as much as Dow had requested. He reported that “Eight of the 10 subjects showed acne lesions. . . In three instances, the lesions progressed to inflammatory pustules and pules. These lesions lasted for four to seven months, since no effort was made to speed healing by active treatment.” EPA sought the identity of the 70 men, but Kligman refused to cooperate, claiming no records of the prisoners’ identities were kept.
In 2006, in response to a New York Times reporter’s inquiry about prisoner research, Kligman stated: “My view is that shutting the prison experiments down was a big mistake. . . I’m on the medical ethics committee at Penn, and I still don’t see there having been anything wrong with what we were doing.” “Nothing wrong” from his perspective inasmuch his experiments generated enormous profits from his patent of Retin-A, an anti-acne cream; and from the hundreds of experiments he performed on prisoners for Johnson & Johnson, Dow Chemical, the U.S. Army and his own corporation, Ivy Research. (Prison Legal News, 2008)
The University of Pennsylvania website praises Dr. Kligman as: “an innovative, captivating teacher… inspired generations of researchers and clinicians… a giant in the field…”
Tester, Moran Urgently Call on VA to Immediately Expedite Vietnam Veterans’ Blue Water Navy Claims
Senators: “Veterans have waited long enough, and it is time for them to have their claims properly adjudicated”
(U.S. Senate) – Senate Veterans’
Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Jerry Moran
(R-Kan.) are urgently calling on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary
Denis McDonough to implement provisions under the Blue Water Navy Vietnam
Veterans Act to quickly provide long-overdue benefits and care to veterans
suffering from Agent Orange exposure.
“Veterans who have suffered for
decades would welcome quick Departmental implementation of this law,” wrote the
Senators in a bipartisan letter. “In response to questions prior to your
confirmation as Secretary, you agreed to provide a timeline on when these
veterans could expect Departmental action. We reiterate this request and ask
that you provide this information as soon as possible, along with any
additional resources your Department needs to adjudicate these claims
expeditiously. We also request that you detail any renewed filings veterans or
their survivors must undertake to receive benefits under the law. Veterans have
waited long enough, and it is time for them to have their claims properly
adjudicated.”
The Blue Water Navy Vietnam
Veterans Act changed the law to guarantee that veterans who served off the
shores of Vietnam and exposed to Agent Orange could access health care and
benefits related to their exposure from VA. President Donald Trump signed this
legislation into law on June 25, 2019.
“I submitted my Blue Water Navy
Claim to my local Veterans Service Organization in Kalispell more than a year
ago, and VA has yet to provide a resolution,” said Bigfork Vietnam Veteran Mike
Stone. “As a veteran living with three of the seven qualifying
service-connected conditions, including Type 2 Diabetes and Ischemic Heart
Disease, I simply can’t afford to wait another 14 months for VA to take action.
I appreciate Chairman Tester and Ranking Member Moran’s attention to ensuring
that these claims are expedited immediately for myself and countless others who
served on behalf of this nation.”
Lawmakers introduce bill to extend VA care to 490,000 more veterans ill from Agent Orange
Efforts in Congress last year to add hypertension to a list of diseases linked to Agent Orange at the Department of Veterans Affairs failed, keeping Vietnam-era veterans from accessing care for high blood pressure connected to the toxic exposure.
Now, lawmakers are making another
attempt to add hypertension and MGUS (Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined
Significance), to a list of presumptive conditions at VA, which will qualify
those veterans for care and benefits. As many as 490,000 Vietnam-era veterans
could benefit from the change, if the bill passes Congress and becomes law.
Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
Chairman Jon Tester, D-Montana, introduced the Fair Care for Vietnam Veterans
Act this week, along with support from 16 other senators. Tester said the bill
would "put an end to decades of veterans wrestling with bureaucratic red
tape" at VA, adding that there is sufficient scientific evidence to
connect the illnesses to the toxic herbicide.
Earlier this month, Tester and
Moran urged VA leaders to expand care and benefits to as many as 160,000
affected by Agent Orange-linked hypertension.
The Victims of Agent Orange the U.S. Has Never Acknowledged
America has never taken responsibility for spraying the herbicide over Laos during the Vietnam War. But generations of ethnic minorities have endured the consequences.
It was a blazing-hot morning in October 2019 on the old Ho Chi Minh Trail, an intricate web of truck roads and secret paths that wove its way across the densely forested and mountainous border between Vietnam and Laos. Susan Hammond, Jacquelyn Chagnon and Niphaphone Sengthong forded a rocky stream along the trail and came to a village of about 400 people called Labeng-Khok, once the site of a logistics base inside Laos used by the North Vietnamese Army to infiltrate troops into the South. In one of the bamboo-and-thatch stilt houses, the ladder to the living quarters was made from metal tubes that formerly held American cluster bombs.
Hammond, Chagnon and Sengthong
make up the core of the staff of a nongovernmental organization called the War
Legacies Project. Hammond, a self-described Army brat whose father was a senior
military officer in the war in Vietnam, founded the group in 2008. Chagnon, who
is almost a generation older, was one of the first foreigners allowed to work
in Laos after the conflict, representing a Quaker organization, the American
Friends Service Committee. Sengthong, a retired schoolteacher who is Chagnon’s
neighbor in the country’s capital, Vientiane, is responsible for the
record-keeping and local coordination.
The main focus of the War
Legacies Project is to document the long-term effects of the defoliant known as
Agent Orange and provide humanitarian aid to its victims. Named for the colored
stripe painted on its barrels, Agent Orange — best known for its widespread use
by the U.S. military to clear vegetation during the Vietnam War — is notorious
for being laced with a chemical contaminant called
2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-dioxin, or TCDD, regarded as one of the most toxic
substances ever created.
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