Biological and Chemical Weapons
DoD Releases New Information on 1960s Chemical and Biological Testing
CBW Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 1 (January 2003)
Information recently released by the Defense Department sheds new light on a 1960s era program designed to identify US ships’ vulnerabilities to chemical and biological attacks and to develop appropriate countermeasures. As part of a larger undertaking called Project 112, which encompassed land-based testing as well, the sea-based initiative, Project SHAD (Shipboard Hazard and Defense) utilized not only a variety of chemical and biological weapon simulants, but live agents as well.
According to the Pentagon, officials originally planned 150 tests but only conducted 46. Sixty-two tests have been confirmed cancelled, and the remaining 48 are believed to have been called off as well. The Defense Department released detailed information sheets on 42 of the 46 completed tests. Details on the last four tests are expected to be available in the next year.
Project SHAD test locations included the Hawaiian Islands, Maryland, Florida, Utah, Alaska, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and the Panama Canal region. Pentagon officials claim that all testing was done in remote locations far removed from civilian populations.
Although the Pentagon had previously acknowledged conducting experiments utilizing simulants to mimic the effects of real chemical or biological weapons, in 2002, officials admitted to using actual weapons. One test in Panama dispersed tear gas on unmasked volunteers; another released uninfected mosquitoes over an island in the Pacific to examine biting habits, trapping methods, and logistical problems with mosquito delivery methods. Tear gas and mosquitos constitute the most minor infractions, as the government also acknowledges use of chemical agents such as sarin, VX, tabun, and soman, and live biological agents including those that cause tularemia and Q fever.
Experiments using biological simulants primarily utilized the anthrax relative Bacillus subtilis var niger, often referred to as Bacillus globigii (BG). Though BG was thought harmless at the time, it has since proven to cause health problems in those with compromised immune systems. Furthermore, repeated exposure to chemical tracers such as zinc cadmium sulfide could be toxic to bones, kidneys, or lungs. Long-term effects of several other compounds used in the tests may include respiratory conditions and cancer.
"The purpose of these operational tests was to test equipment, procedures, military tactics, et cetera, and to learn more about biological and chemical weapons. The tests were not conducted to evaluate the effects of dangerous agents on people," said William Winkenwerder, Jr., the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs at a 9 October Defense Department briefing.
In an effort to inform veterans of their potential exposure to hazardous materials, the Department of Veterans Affairs has sent letters to 1,400 of the over 7,000 veterans involved in the SHAD and land-based tests. Of those informed, 53 have filed health claims. According to Winkenwerder, however, "illnesses which these individuals have presented have been fairly unremarkable and very consistent with individuals of the same age."
In this claim, Winkenwerder was referencing a 5 August report to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee that cited a preliminary study of 299 SHAD participants. Though the results demonstrated that SHAD participants suffered the same number and types of disabilities as the total service-connected population, he acknowledged that more extensive data is needed.
Towards that end, the Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a $3 million contract to the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine to perform a three-year study on the health of Project SHAD participants. This study will seek to contact each of these individuals for comparison to veterans with similar military histories but without the exposure to chemical and/or biological substances.
Even if the study reveals no increased incidence of adverse health in SHAD participants, many veterans remain disgruntled about their involvement in the tests. Particularly disturbing to them is the knowledge that they were required to participate without full knowledge of the nature of the tests. Winkenwerder noted that "because [the testing was] operational in nature and not a medical human subjects type of research, I would presume that it was not voluntary, that people were part of units that were doing this kind of work and were expected to do that kind of work."
In part because of the involuntary nature of the tests, 21 veterans have filed a class action lawsuit in conjunction with the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). Rick Weidman, Director of Government Relations for VVA, stated, "SHAD veterans were unwitting participants in these tests. DoD continues to withhold the evidence needed by these veterans to meet the burden of proof that VA requires for care and compensation. It is unconscionable for DoD to treat SHAD veterans this way. Every day that DoD delays the release of the truth is another day that SHAD veterans are denied proper health care and benefits." According to lawsuit estimates, the class action suit would cover any veterans who file SHAD-related disability claims, and could represent over 5,000 servicemen.