[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS, HEALTH: In Vieques, Puerto Rico, advocates blame Navy bombing for cancers

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

In Vieques, Puerto Rico, cancer rates are high. Advocates say Navy bombing may be to blame
The U.S. Navy used Vieques, Puerto Rico as a training site for six decades. Experts, residents of Vieques believe the contaminants in their soil, water and air have contributed to higher cancer rates.

By Nada Hassanein
USA TODAY
June 12, 2023

The island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, for decades had all the makings of a tropical paradise, save for one thing: The roar of bombs blasting into the picturesque landscape.

Zaida Torres still has that sound ringing in her head. She recalls buildings trembling as if there were constant earthquakes. “It felt like a war zone – and there was no war,” says Torres, 69, a lifelong resident of the island.

Tourists still flock to the Puerto Rican tropical haven, known for its white-sand beaches and glimmering cerulean waters less then 10 miles east of the main island. But many are unaware of its tainted history and legacy of suffering.

The U.S. Navy for 60 years used the eastern side of Vieques as a bombing range, dropping 5 million pounds of ordnance each year.

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/06/12/vieques-puerto-rico-navy-bombing-cancer-rates/70227463007/

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)

_______________________________________________
Military mailing list
Military@lists.cpeo.org
http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org