[CPEO-MEF] Depleted uranium toxicity concerns JPG board

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Indiana
THE MADISON COURIER
Friday, May 02, 2003
Depleted uranium toxicity concerns JPG board
By: Peggy Vlerebome
Courier Staff Writer

The two faces of depleted uranium are concerning members of the advisory
board for restoration of Jefferson Proving Ground. Depleted uranium,
which was used in munitions tested at JPG, is both radioactive and
toxic.

DU’s danger to people’s health is far greater from its toxicity than
from its radioactivity, Restoration Advisory Board members said at the
board’s quarterly meeting Wednesday. Board members discussed how to make
testing for toxicity part of the regimen at JPG.

But there is a huge problem: No agency or group has set a standard for
the level at which DU toxicity is hazardous. One of the health effects
is kidney damage.

Some of the board members wanted the Army to do topological tests at
JPG, but Paul Cloud, the Army’s point-man at JPG and co-chairman of the
advisory board, said the Army doesn’t have to do so because the DU it
tested there in munitions is regulated by the federal Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. The NRC is concerned only with the radioactive properties of
the DU and not its toxic properties, he said.

It’s possible another federal agency, such as the Environmental
Protection Agency, or an Indiana state agency could take on monitoring
the toxicity of the depleted uranium at JPG.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.madisoncourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=253&ArticleID=11941

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