Group items tagged

Leonard W. Duke survived being dragged by a truck when he was 7. Doctors said he wouldn't make it. As he grew older, three doctors subsequently told him he wouldn't live to be 30, another 10 years and to be 50. At 81, he's healthier than many of his fellow former Line 1 workers. Since doctors long have predicted his demise, Duke is not keen on visits to the doctor's office, even after he's suffered some recent dizziness. He does, however, trust Laurence Fuortes and his staff at the University of Iowa's College of Public Health's Burlington Atomic Energy Commission Plant-Former Worker Program. During a luncheon Thursday that honored former Iowa Army Ammunition workers who worked on Line 1 where secret atomic weapons were assembled between 1947 and 1975, people like Duke visited with fellow plant workers and the University of Iowa staff.

Leonard W. Duke survived being dragged by a truck when he was 7. Doctors said he wouldn't make it. As he grew older, three doctors subsequently told him he wouldn't live to be 30, another 10 years and to be 50. At 81, he's healthier than many of his fellow former Line 1 workers. Since doctors long have predicted his demise, Duke is not keen on visits to the doctor's office, even after he's suffered some recent dizziness. He does, however, trust Laurence Fuortes and his staff at the University of Iowa's College of Public Health's Burlington Atomic Energy Commission Plant-Former Worker Program. During a luncheon Thursday that honored former Iowa Army Ammunition workers who worked on Line 1 where secret atomic weapons were assembled between 1947 and 1975, people like Duke visited with fellow plant workers and the University of Iowa staff.

Leonard W. Duke survived being dragged by a truck when he was 7. Doctors said he wouldn't make it. As he grew older, three doctors subsequently told him he wouldn't live to be 30, another 10 years and to be 50. At 81, he's healthier than many of his fellow former Line 1 workers. Since doctors long have predicted his demise, Duke is not keen on visits to the doctor's office, even after he's suffered some recent dizziness. He does, however, trust Laurence Fuortes and his staff at the University of Iowa's College of Public Health's Burlington Atomic Energy Commission Plant-Former Worker Program. During a luncheon Thursday that honored former Iowa Army Ammunition workers who worked on Line 1 where secret atomic weapons were assembled between 1947 and 1975, people like Duke visited with fellow plant workers and the University of Iowa staff.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold hearings tomorrow and Wednesday in Hawaii on an application by the US Army for a permit to have depleted uranium at its Pohakuloa Training Area, a vast stretch of flat land in what's called the "saddle" between the sacred mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island, and at the Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu. In fact, what the Army is asking for is a permit to leave in place the DU left over from years of test firing of M101 mortar "spotting rounds," that each contained close to half a pound of depleted uranium (DU). The Army, which originally denied that any DU weapons had been used at either location, now says that as many as 2000 rounds of M101 DU mortars might have been fired at Pohakuloa alone.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold hearings tomorrow and Wednesday in Hawaii on an application by the US Army for a permit to have depleted uranium at its Pohakuloa Training Area, a vast stretch of flat land in what's called the "saddle" between the sacred mountains of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island, and at the Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu. In fact, what the Army is asking for is a permit to leave in place the DU left over from years of test firing of M101 mortar "spotting rounds," that each contained close to half a pound of depleted uranium (DU). The Army, which originally denied that any DU weapons had been used at either location, now says that as many as 2000 rounds of M101 DU mortars might have been fired at Pohakuloa alone.

Airborne uranium levels will be measured by an Army contractor at three monitoring stations at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island over the next 12 months, Col. Howard Killian told the Public Works Committee of the Hawaii County Council yesterday. On the Net: » www.imcom.pac.army.mil/du The $150,000 testing is being done because the Army discovered in 2007 that uranium "spotting rounds" were used at Pohakuloa in the 1960s. Radiation monitoring from the Girl Scout camp near Pohakuloa to Konawaena High School nearly 30 miles to the southwest has not found any radiation above background level, Killian said.

"The possibility that depleted uranium could be stored at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant has parents like Stacey Moody worried for their families' safety. Moody lives on Salem Road, about two miles from the arsenal, with her husband and 2-year-old daughter Elizabeth. She said storing depleted uranium at the arsenal would pose a threat to people and wildlife if a truck accident or explosion exposed people to the element that is classified as nuclear waste. "It would be very easy for a truck to turn over or have an accident," Moody said. "What kind of sickness would it cause if there was an accident? That's something we don't know." The Milan Arsenal is being used by American Ordinance to manufacture 40-millimeter munitions, 60mm and 81mm mortars and other munitions for the U.S. military, primarily the U.S. Army. The company has proposed moving that manufacturing to Iowa. It would then use Milan as a place to store depleted uranium shipped from Iowa and from weapons sent to the local arsenal for destruction. American Ordnance's plan must first be approved by the military. The plan can be found at www.jmc.army.mil/milan-ea.pdf."

The Army plans to measure airborne uranium levels at three monitoring stations on the Big Island over the next 12 months. Advertisement It has hired a contractor to do the testing for $150,000. The move comes after the Army in 2007 said it confirmed the presence of depleted uranium at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island. The Army, after years of denials it used depleted uranium in the Islands, also said soldiers training in Hawai'i fired 714 spotting rounds containing depleted uranium in the 1960s. Depleted uranium is a byproduct of radioactive enriched uranium and has been used by the U.S. military in bullets and other weapons designed to pierce armor.

During the Vietnam War, the hell that was soldiers' daily lives sometimes was complicated by their exposure to plastic explosives and their neurotoxic effects. Back home, munitions workers faced similar nightmares. Though not wandering the jungle in search of Viet Cong, workers on the front lines at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant knew that at any moment they could be injured or die in an explosion. And those who were lucky or smart enough to survive could have ended up like Mary Ludlow. Ludlow, a Wisconsin resident, worked two stints at the plant in the late-1960s, totaling about six months. Ludlow left the plant a second time, and for good, when her then-husband decided to pursue a graduate degree at Iowa State University in Ames.

During the Vietnam War, the hell that was soldiers' daily lives sometimes was complicated by their exposure to plastic explosives and their neurotoxic effects. Back home, munitions workers faced similar nightmares. Though not wandering the jungle in search of Viet Cong, workers on the front lines at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant knew that at any moment they could be injured or die in an explosion. And those who were lucky or smart enough to survive could have ended up like Mary Ludlow. Ludlow, a Wisconsin resident, worked two stints at the plant in the late-1960s, totaling about six months. Ludlow left the plant a second time, and for good, when her then-husband decided to pursue a graduate degree at Iowa State University in Ames.

During the Vietnam War, the hell that was soldiers' daily lives sometimes was complicated by their exposure to plastic explosives and their neurotoxic effects. Back home, munitions workers faced similar nightmares. Though not wandering the jungle in search of Viet Cong, workers on the front lines at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant knew that at any moment they could be injured or die in an explosion. And those who were lucky or smart enough to survive could have ended up like Mary Ludlow. Ludlow, a Wisconsin resident, worked two stints at the plant in the late-1960s, totaling about six months. Ludlow left the plant a second time, and for good, when her then-husband decided to pursue a graduate degree at Iowa State University in Ames.

Doug Rokke earned his B.S. in Physics at Western Illinois University followed by his M.S. and Ph.D. in physics and technology education at the University of Illinois. His military career has spanned 4 decades to include combat duty during the Vietnam War and Gulf War 1. Dr. Doug Rokke is a Depleted Uranium expert. Doug served as a member of the 3rd U.S. Army Medical Command's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) teaching, medical response, and special operations team, the 3rd U.S. Army captured equipment project team, and with the 3rd U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Assessment team during Gulf War 1(Operation Desert Storm).

Thanks to $5 million in federal stimulus money, cleanup at the nuclear waste dump along Route 66 should begin ahead of schedule. Army Corps of Engineers officials said remediation at the site could begin by year's end. It will take about three years to complete the $56 million project, they said. "We're very excited to have the opportunity to get started a little ahead of schedule," said Lenna Hawkins, Army Corps deputy district engineer for the Pittsburgh District. Cleanup at the site wasn't scheduled to begin until next year. Hawkins said the allocation of the stimulus money "bumped up" the start date. The Army Corps will remove 50,000 tons of radioactive materials from the Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA), owned by Babcock & Wilcox.

US intelligence agencies knew months before the November 05 Fort Hood shooting that suspect Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan tried to contact people with Al-Qaeda links, ABC News reported November 09, citing two US officials. However, it was unclear if the US Army had been informed. Having read the above news, I wonder if Seymour Hersh is thinking to use his acid soaked pen to write another article about the insecurity of American nukes since members of the American military of Muslim faith are allegedly in touch, or were trying to get in touch, with Al-Qaeda. Here's a unique glimpse of what he may write.

US intelligence agencies knew months before the November 05 Fort Hood shooting that suspect Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan tried to contact people with Al-Qaeda links, ABC News reported November 09, citing two US officials. However, it was unclear if the US Army had been informed. Having read the above news, I wonder if Seymour Hersh is thinking to use his acid soaked pen to write another article about the insecurity of American nukes since members of the American military of Muslim faith are allegedly in touch, or were trying to get in touch, with Al-Qaeda. Here's a unique glimpse of what he may write.

A story covered by the Idaho Statesman, New West online magazine and the local Associated Press - but apparently few others - was listed by Time magazine as one of the most underreported news stories of the year. Back in May, about 6,700 tons of radioactive waste was shipped from a U.S. military base in Kuwait to a US Ecology waste storage facility west of Grand View in Owyhee County. The waste had been created by a 1991 fire at U.S. Army Camp Doha, which ignited military vehicles and munitions containing depleted uranium used in armor-piercing shells. The shell fragments were removed and disposed in the United States by the U.S. Army in 2005, and the waste that came to Idaho was what was left of the contaminated soil from which the fragments were removed. New West broke the story before the shipments came.

Free health screenings, available through University of Iowa studies of both Army and Department of Energy workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant are continuing through this fall. Researchers are continuing to enroll people in the IAAP Munitions Workers Study. One aim of the research study, directed by Laurence Fuortes, M.D., professor of occupational and environmental health, is to assess exposure to beryllium alloys among conventional weapons workers at the plant. Participants also will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire and to provide a blood sample for analysis of beryllium sensitivity. Participation requires a 30- to 45-minute time commitment. Compensation is provided.

NEW YORK (AFP) - US authorities announced Tuesday the arrest of a US Army veteran on charges he disclosed secret defense information, including on nuclear weapons, to Israel in a case linked to the huge 1980s Jonathan Pollard spy scandal. Ben-Ami Kadish, now 84, worked as a mechanical engineer at a US Army weapons center in New Jersey, from where he provided classified documents to Israel's consul for science affairs in New York from 1979 to 1985, the Justice Department said.

Deborah and Phillip Lovelace felt like they were going up against an army as they organized opposition to a proposed uranium mine five miles from their cattle farm near Gretna, a Southside town of 1,300. Then the Virginia Beach City Council passed a resolution opposing the mine without guarantees that the operation wouldn't contaminate Lake Gaston, its primary drinking water supply. Suddenly, the Lovelaces had their own army: a city of 425,000 people. "I could have almost turned cartwheels," Phillip said.

A preliminary study has concluded the public is not at risk from depleted uranium at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island, the military said. The Army conducted the study as part of its licensing application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a site-specific environmental radiation monitoring plan. According to the report, only three pieces of the radioactive material have been found at Pohakuloa, and the remainder, if any, likely fell into cracks in the lava. The July 8 report says, "If any significant quantity of DU was fired at PTA, it is expected to have quickly migrated through the pahoehoe and a'a basalt flows and is no longer detectable at the surface."

Depleted Uranium Gives Off Small, Safe Doses Of Radiation, Army Says PHOENIX -- New research is raising questions about the safety of a type of material used to make weapons deadlier and armor stronger. Depleted uranium, a byproduct of nuclear weapons, is widely used to coat tanks and shells, among other military equipment; however, some believe that the radiation it emits can harm people. Jerry Wheat was in the army during the first Gulf War when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by a shell from a U.S. tank.

"When my sister, 101st Airborne Army Capt. Chaplain Fran E. Stuart, returned from Iraq, she was forever changed. Not only had the desert sand, gun blasts and heat penetrated her psyche during her one-year deployment, but a carcinogen had made its way into her body as well. Unbeknown to her, the carcinogen was making a home in my sister's body, along with the Anthrax vaccine, depleted uranium, burn pit smoke and contaminated water dished up at every meal. In March 2006, when my sister was 41, she was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, stage-IV dysgerminoma cancer, also called "germ cell" cancer, which is usually only seen in pregnant women and teenage girls. The cancer was advancing quickly, wrapping itself around her internal organs like an octopus and gathering fuel from her central abdomen. My sister was flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington for immediate surgery and further testing, when a volleyball-sized tumor was removed from her abdomen. Fortunately, doctors were able to corral her cancer, but only after 10 months and 35 rounds of exhaustive chemotherapy. She wasn't the only one undergoing such trauma. While visiting her at Walter Reed, I witnessed many soldiers returning from Iraq with cancer, unknown to the public and unacknowledged by the military. Walter Reed had two floors dedicated solely to the soldiers arriving daily with cancer. Their lives were spared on the battlefield, but the cancer was ravaging their bodies from within."

Army to be sued for war crimes over its role in Fallujah attacks Parents of children with birth defects say Britain knew of US chemical weapons use Allegations that Britain was complicit in the use of chemical weapons linked to an upsurge in child deformity cases in Iraq, are being investigated by the Ministry of Defence. The case raises serious questions about the UK's role in the American-led offensive against the city of Fallujah in the autumn of 2004 where hundreds of Iraqis died. After the battle, in which it is alleged that a range of illegal weaponry was used, evidence has emerged of large numbers of children being born with severe birth defects. Iraqi families who believe their children's deformities are caused by the deployment of the weapons have now begun legal proceedings against the UK Government. They accuse the UK Government of breaching international law, war crimes and failing to intervene to prevent a war crime. "

HILO » Forty-year-old depleted uranium devices at the Army's Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island are a hazard on base, but not a hazard to the public, Army Col. Howard Killian told the Hawaii County Council yesterday. Measurements show no radiation from depleted uranium is extending outside the nearly 109,000-acre base, and radiation inside is so low that devices made with uranium are hard to find, Killian said.

DENVER (AP) - Colorado will get $35 million to help clean up and restore a former nerve gas and chemical manufacturing site near Denver that was deemed among the most polluted in the country. Shell Oil Co., which made pesticides and other chemicals at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, will provide $21 million in cash and land under an agreement announced Thursday to settle a 25-year-old state lawsuit. The Army and federal government will provide the rest.

A southeast Colorado lawmaker Wednesday said he has evidence of uranium in Pinon Canyon, the vast Fort Carson training area where a wildfire is burning. Rep. Wes McKinley, D- Walsh, said at a news conference he collected seven soil, water and plant samples during a tour of the area conducted by the Army in May 2007 and had them analyzed by an independent lab.