(Fwd) Union for Chemical Safety

[Nick Morgan <nmorgan@igc.org>]

From: "Nick Morgan" <nmorgan@igc.org>

Dear colleague,

The gentleman who posts the following message is

 Professor Lev A.Fedorov,
 Union for Chemical Safety,
 117292 Russia, Moscow,
 8-2-83 Profsojuznaja str.

He may also be reached on email at 
lefed@glas.apc.org

Professor Fedorov provides the following useful information: You may find here some information about persons, which

 23 February, 1996
-------------------------------------------------------
To the international community

We apply for urgent help.

 "Sojuz-3" (Union-3), our public organization, unites present
and former workers of "Chimprom" production association
(Novocheboksarsk, Chuvash Republic) who produced combat chemical
weapons.
 During a period of 15 years (1972-1987) we participated in
production of V-gas, the most dangerous toxic agent of modern
armies. We poured V-gas into munitions (mortar shells, bombs,
artillery shells, rockets). We also produced all precursors for
V-gas, many of which were dangerous for man. Responsible for all
problems caused by V-gas production were organizations no longer
existing. The decision on the production was made by the Central
Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
That decision was implemented by the USSR Ministry of Chemical
Industry, whose successor, the State Committee of Russia on chemical
and chemical oil industry, does not take on obligations concerning
our former (miserable) rights. Chemical weaponry was ordered by
the USSR Ministry of Defense but its successor does not want to
inherit obligations about our health, which was ruined as a result
of inhuman character of the production. When combat chemical
weapons were produced, our health was "guarded" by a secret unit
of the USSR Ministry of Public Health. Even now, having become
semi-secret, that unit doesn't take serious care of us.
 All correspondence and decisions concerning V-gas production
and the workers' health were and are classified, so we cannot
submit any document to the court.
 The technology of V-gas production had not been tested by
the beginning of our work. Fires, explosions and other accidents
occurred during our work. Moreover, we were poisoned by small
doses of V-gas even in the absence of accidents. However, we do
not have documentary data about this, for results of V-gas
monitoring in production shops, even if they exist, are not shown
to us.
 We all had permanent contact with V-gas and its precursors
but the means of protection did not meet the level of danger:
* workers of a "dirty" zone of the plant wore imperfect butyl
 rubber suits L-1 and gas masks EO-16;
* workers of the laboratory were equipped with plastic oversleeves,
 aprons, rubber gloves, gas masks EO-16.
 All these means of protection were used many times (after
detoxification). A total of about 3000 people (the exact number
is concealed from us) participated in V-gas production. All of
us, i.e. present and retired workers of the "Chimprom", feel now
that, because of accumulative properties of V-gas, we were
affected by neurotropic phosphorous organic chemicals. It turned
out that, without our consent and desire, we were under a big
experiment on such an influence. Doctors and scientists say now
that, before the start of the production, they knew neither about
remote consequences of V-gas effect on man, nor about the possibility
of chronic effect on man of small quantities of V-gas. Nevertheless,
nobody wants to acknowledge that such an experiment took place.
 Our health has been ruined. Many of us see that our work
in V-gas production affected health of our children as well.
Ecology of our town has been undermined.
 Health of more than a half of the 3000 workers who
participated in production of combat chemical weapons is such
that they need urgent medical examination in connection with
this past production. However, they cannot be provided with such
an examination and one of the reasons is lack of money. They have
no rights.
 Only 200 people succeeded in proving the connection between
the production and the deterioration of their health and defended
the right to be called occupationally diseased. Only a few persons
received the status of occupationally disabled. However, their
rights are insignificant in comparison with the damage to their
health and the sums paid in compensation are miserable. Even
occupationally diseased workers are not provided with pensions
and privileges comparable to those received by servicemen in
spite of the fact that we all performed tasks set directly by
the military industrial complex. The other workers cannot still
prove their "contacts" with V-gas.
 Very often the administration didn't register such contacts,
whereas the state of our health is not proof. However, the number
of the diseased does not decrease, it grows although 7 years have
passed since the production was stopped. Our health steadily
deteriorates, the nervous system (central and peripheral) collapses,
so does the liver, the heart fails.
 Nonetheless, nobody suggests solutions of problems related
to rehabilitation of our health. Such problems are simply ignored.
As for the health of our children and grandchildren born after
1972, the authorities refuse to discuss it at all.
 We have worked so many years in the production of chemical
weapons and sacrificed
our health to the state (there were those who gave their lives),
but we haven't earned livings and lead a miserable existence. We
applied in connection with our problems to those who, in our opinion,
had to help us by their official duty:
* to the administration of Novocheboksarsk where we are living,
* to N.V.Fedorov, the President of Chuvashia Republic, whom we
 elected having believed his promises,
* to N.A.Bikalova, a deputy of the State Duma of Russia, who
 during the election compaign especially actively promised to
 help ordinary people,
* to the Ministry of Social Security of Russia in whose "protective"
 functions we had believed for many years,
* to the Ministry of Public Health of Russia, which, in our view,
 does not have other duties than protecting health,
* to the State Committee of Russia on chemical and chemical oil
 industry, which inherited obligations of the former Ministry of
 Chemical Industry of the USSR concerning compensation for damage
 to health of its workers,
* to Russia's Ministry of Defense, for which we produced chemical
 weapons.
 All our requests and needs met negative response and the
problems remain unsolved.
 It was not we, but the Soviet Power, who was preparing for
chemical warfare. We are glad that chemical weapons made by our
hands had not been used. We all just honestly did our work at
our working places.
 We hoped for justice. We, workers of especially severe
production of combat chemical weapons, hoped that the authorities
would take care of us; we deserved it by our work daily putting
our health and even life in danger. We experience a sense of
bitterness and offense towards the state whose order we carried
out; it left us alone with our problems, diseases, anxiety about
health and future of our children and grandchildren.
 We apply to you hoping that we will be heard and our problems
will not meet indifference.
 Chairman of "Sojuz-3" Svetlakova M.S.