Soil tests show no signs of dioxins

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Alaska
FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER
Soil tests show no signs of dioxins
By Diana Campbell
Article Published: Friday, January 30, 2004 - 3:10:17 AM AKST

A government search in Alaska soils for the world's deadliest manmade
toxin did not turn up any traces of the substance, a U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers report said.

That means it is unlikely that Agent Orange was used as a brush killer
along the Alaska section of a 1960s-era petroleum pipeline that ran from
Haines to Fairbanks, the report concluded.

The report satisfied the state's initial concerns over the possibility
that the toxin might be present along the old pipeline route that runs
parallel to the Alaska and Richardson highways.

"It was an excellent first cut," said Bob Glascott, environmental
specialist for the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Agent Orange, a herbicide used during the Vietnam War, has been linked
to numerous health problems, including cancer and Type II diabetes in
Vietnam veterans as well as birth defects in their children. During the
herbicide's manufacturing process, a substance known as dioxin
accidentally formed in some batches. Dioxin is dangerous even in minute
amounts.

The testing for the substance in Alaska came after Tanana Chiefs
Conference Inc. forwarded a report to the corps and DEC in late 2002.
The report, provided to TCC by the Chilkoot Native Association of
Canada, contained old U.S. military correspondence to the Canadian
government that suggested Agent Orange was used to clear brush along the
626-mile pipeline.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~1925080,00.html

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