Dangers of DU Weaponry

[mtp@cdh.net]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 17, 1997
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Military Toxics Project, (207)783-5091
Dan Fahey, Swords to Plowshares, (415)247-8777
Chris Kornkven, National Gulf War Resource Center, (404)373-5507
Henk Van Der Keur, LAKA, Netherlands 011-31-20-616-8294
Dennis Flaherty, Veterans for Peace, UK 011-44-144-320-4522
Cassandra Garner, Gulf War Veteran
Dr. Asaf Durakovic, Washington D.C.
Dr. Seigwart Horst Gunther, International Yellow Cross, Austria
John Paul Hasko, Former worker Tennessee Nuclear Specialties (TNS)
Vina Colley, Worker Portsmouth Enrichment Plant, Ohio

International Forum Calls Attention to the Use and Dangers of Depleted
Uranium Weaponry

Washington, DC--Today, at a press conference at the National Press Club,
the Military Toxics Project (MTP), a national grassroots organization
working on Department of Defense environmental issues, in partnership with
other local, national, and international organizations, released Army
training videos which have been withheld from military personnel regarding
the health and environmental dangers associated with depleted uranium (DU)
weaponry.

The training videos, completed in 1995 by the Army's Depleted Uranium
Project, were obtained from an Army officer who is concerned that active
duty soldiers are still not receiving proper training about the use and
dangers of depleted uranium munitions. The training videos highlight the
dangers of depleted uranium and the need for strict safety measures when
coming into contact with contaminated vehicles and personnel injured by
uranium fragments. Armor-piercing rounds and tank armor made of depleted
uranium were used for the for the first time in warfare in Operation Desert
Storm.

"MTP has maintained that the radioactive and toxicological affects of DU
are worse than the Pentagon has ever admitted, and may be linked, in part,
to health problems that are affecting Persian Gulf veterans, their spouses
and offspring," stated Dolores Lymburner, organizer for MTP's DU work.

During the Gulf War, military commanders withheld basic warnings about the
use of depleted uranium munitions and ways to avoid exposure. When a DU
round impacts a target, it burns up causing radioactive and toxic dust
which can be transported by wind and water, entering the body via
inhalation, ingestion, or wound contamination.

MTP held the press conference as the culmination to a three day
international forum on DU, bringing together citizens, Indigenous Peoples,
scientists, doctors, workers and veterans from several different countries
who have been affected in some way by mining, manufacture, testing, or use
of DU weaponry.

Attendees at the conference signed the International Statement on Depleted
Uranium calling for:
an end to production and use of DU munitions worldwide
health care, cleanup and compensation,
the dissemination of information and training to workers and soldiers
regarding the hazards of depleted uranium exposure
an independent international scientific and medical commission

With the impending possibility that U.S. and allied troops may return to
the Persian Gulf, conference attendees also agreed to a call to President
Clinton asking that "all suspect toxicological and radiological agents,
within allied military control, including depleted uranium ordnance, used
by the military in the war, be immediately prohibited from use and combat
or punitive action." Civilian populations in Kuwait and Iraq are still
being exposed to more than 600,000 pounds of DU dust and fragments which
lie on Gulf War battlefields. Not only is the U.S. using DU weapons in
Bosnia, but at least seventeen countries now have depleted uranium
penetrators in their arsenals.

As groups like MTP and Gulf War veterans organizations increase the
awareness of the dangers of DU weapons, veterans have begun to request, and
have been denied, appropriate testing and treatment of DU-related health
problems.

Since 1991, MTP has facilitated networking and information dissemination
amongst impacted citizens that live near DU production, mining, testing,
and disposal sites, workers from DU manufacturers, Persian Gulf and Atomic
veterans, and communities of color.

MTP is a national network of groups working to clean up military pollution,
safe-guard the transportation of hazardous materials, and advance pollution
prevention and health-related issues at Department of Defense
installations. MTP's national office is located in Maine.

--30--