Re: Range Fires

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org>]

[In response to Ted Henry's Range Fires inquires.--Aimee

Ted,
Let me fill you in on a little history of the Mass military Reservation's
impact area.
In the 1970's cleared areas were kept open to troop access/gun positions by
defoliants. But the military still had the problem of range fires. That was
easily solved by defoliants. Then someone came up with the bright idea of
controlled burns using accelorants. Convincing a gullible community was easy,
they called it "fire training". The controlled burns solved many problems.
One, cleared the brush so range opperations won't be interrupted. Two, UXO
clearence that is very effective. Three, consuming of chemical residues;i.e.
explosives, defoliants and everything else dumped in the impact area. The
military in their infinite wisdom never considered the effect of the toxic
smoke on the local citizens. The people at Fort Ord must wake up to this 
smoke screen without mirrors.

 Paul Zanis
 Impact Area Review Team