[CPEO-MEF] In the mid-1960s, Army dropped sarin, VX at Gerstle River

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Nerve agents tested here
FORT GREELY: In the mid-1960s, Army dropped sarin, VX at Gerstle River.

By Matt Kelley
The Associated Press

(Published: October 9, 2002)

Washington -- The United States held open-air biological and chemical
weapons tests in at least four states -- Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland and
Florida -- during the 1960s in an effort to develop defenses against
such weapons, according to Pentagon documents.

A series of tests in Alaska from 1965 to 1967 used artillery shells and
bombs filled with the nerve agents sarin and VX, the records show.

The Defense Department planned to release summaries of 28 chemical and
biological weapons tests at a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing
today. The Associated Press obtained the summaries Tuesday.

The documents did not say whether any civilians had been exposed to the
poisons. Military personnel exposed to weapons agents would have worn
protective gear, the Pentagon says.

The Pentagon previously acknowledged that it had conducted biological
and chemical tests, but this was the first time it disclosed that some
tests were conducted over land and not out at sea.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/1918681p-2032277c.html

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