Posted on: Friday, November 1, 2002
Another nerve-gas test here revealed
Previous stories:
• Pentagon details biowar testing here
• The Advertiser's initial 1984 report: Secret germ tests were held on Isles
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon released new details yesterday about Cold Wariera biological and chemical experiments, disclosing another test that involved the release of a deadly nerve agent on Hawai'i.
In a test known as Red Oak, the military fired projectiles loaded with sarin in the upper Waiakea Forest Reserve, southwest of Hilo, in April and May 1967 to help determine its distribution in a jungle environment. Other parts of the test conducted in the Panama Canal Zone did not involve sarin.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Defense disclosed that thousands of people on O'ahu had been exposed to biological material in a series of secret tests. The government also confirmed for the first time that nerve agents were used in experiments on Hawai'i, but said no residents were exposed.
At the time, the government believed the biological material was harmless, but has since allowed that people with weakened immune systems could have experienced health problems.
The experiments, called Project 112, were conducted in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and the United Kingdom in the 1960s and '70s to build and evaluate biological and chemical warfare capabilities.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is looking at whether veterans involved experienced health problems. Some already have filed medical claims, while others are only now learning about the potential health risks.
"We're on track to meet our stated promise of having all relevant information released by spring of next year," said William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
The Vietnam Veterans of America and a group of Navy veterans filed a civil rights lawsuit this week alleging that the government purposely withheld vital medical information. The lawsuit names former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who served during Project 112, and several other government officials.
"People are responsible for their actions, whether they are corporate moguls or government officials," said Douglas Rosinski, a lawyer for the veterans. "Many of these veterans didn't even know they were involved in a test."
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, who serves on the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees, has co-sponsored a bill that would require the government to provide greater disclosure to veterans about Cold Wariera experiments.
The information released yesterday covered four experiments, two on Hawai'i and the Panama Canal Zone, one in the Panama Canal Zone and one at an unspecified jungle environment.
The military began a test called Yellow Leaf in the Panama Canal Zone until "international considerations" forced a move to a site on Hawai'i. Bomblets filled with the bacterium Bacillus globigii were detonated in the 'Ola'a Forest in April and May 1966 to measure cloud diffusion in a jungle canopy.
