[CPEO-MEF] Toxins present in AAFB soil samples

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Guam
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Report: Toxins present in AAFB soil samples
By Katie Worth
kworth@guampdn.com

An assessment of Andersen Air Force Base published early last year
reports soil samples at 10 sites on base were contaminated with dioxins,
the toxin found in Agent Orange and other Vietnam War-era herbicides and
many other sources.

Illinois Congressman Lane Evans, the ranking Democrat on the House
Committee on Veterans Affairs, cited the report in a recent letter to
U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, asking him to
release information about the storage and use of the herbicides in Guam.

Mary Ellen McCarthy, the Democratic staff director of the subcommittee
on benefits, said this report may provide independent verification the
chemicals were present on Guam, a claim made by veterans who were
stationed here at the time.

However, dioxins are found in a variety of sources, and could
potentially have come from a source other than Agent Orange.

Though the report said the toxins at these sites are not likely to be
harmful now, the report's findings could mean that tens of thousands of
military members stationed in Guam when the herbicides may have been
stored or used on the base could receive full benefits for a vast array
of health problems.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.guampdn.com/news/stories/20030520/localnews/328950.html

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