EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL AGENTS - CHAPTER 10 docx

During July 1996, Federal agents arrested members of the so-called “ViperMilitia” in Phoenix, AZ and seized over 300 pounds of ammonium nitrate, 70automatic rifles, and 200 blasting caps

10 Recent U.S Incidents

Involving Chemical Agents, Biological Materials, or Terrorist Actions

INTRODUCTION

Chemical and biological agents are most effective when employed against untrained

or unprotected targets and victims Civilian sites and innocent citizens offer the besttargets for terrorist activities Wherever you live or work, your best immediateprotection against a terrorist act is a group of well-trained, fully equipped, andcompetently led first responders

On October 4, 1992, an Israeli El Al Boeing 747-200F cargo plane crashed into

a large apartment building in Amsterdam killing 43 people as well as four crewmembers aboard the aircraft On October 30, 1998, the Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, said the plane contained about 50 gallons of dimethyl methylphos-phonate (DMMP) and two other chemicals of the four required to make deadly sarinpoison gas, the same chemical agent used in the subway incident in Tokyo on March

20, 1995 The DMMP, according to the newspaper, was enough to make over 500pounds of sarin, and judging from the shipping papers was traveling from Solk-atronic Chemicals in Morrisville, PA to the Israeli Institute of Biological Researchlocated in Ness Ziona near the city of Tel Aviv The DMMP can also be used as aflame retardant in building materials, but the World Health Organization states ithas induced cancer in laboratory mice The Boeing also carried 800 pounds ofdepleted uranium This type of uranium emits strictly low-level radiation, but,according to the U.S Federal Aviation Administration, it should be handled only

by personnel wearing proper protective clothing as it can cause cancer Laboratorytests done in 1998 on 15 persons who were near the crash site yielded four sampleswith high uranium content Israel has never admitted to making chemical weapons;any nuclear capability they have is open to question Israel signed the ChemicalWeapons Convention Treaty in 1996, but it has not been ratified by the IsraeliCabinet The Dutch started a parliamentary inquiry in late October of 1998 Ongoinginvestigations imply that the El Al crash was a mistake or an attempted cover-up.Several items are reported to have been lost, stolen, or destroyed The voice andflight-data recorder was not recovered Police video tapes were erased before inves-tigators had a chance to see them Vital information related to the hazardous cargo

remained confidential for years, and even today information is still unavailable for

20 tons of the 114 tons of cargo Many survivors told police, doctors, and gators that hours after the crash, when Dutch police had cleared the area of allworkers and members of the media, persons in “moon suits” jumped from a heli-copter into the debris searching for items of cargo rather than victims, and carriedoff such items in unmarked trucks By mid-1998, 1200 residents of the Bijmermeerdistrict of Amsterdam and safety workers assigned to the incident scene werecomplaining of physical and psychological ailments

investi-TERRORIST ACTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES: FACT OR FANTASY?

Across the midwest during 1994 and 1995, members of the Aryan Republican Armyrobbed 22 banks in 7 states from Nebraska to Ohio

On December 6, 1994, Claude Daniel Marks and Donna Jean Wilmott, both topten fugitives of the F.B.I and supporters of the Armed Forces for National Liberation(FALN) and of the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee, a front for the extremistWeather Underground, surrendered to U.S authorities They had spent almost tenyears living under aliases in Pittsburgh before they reappeared On May 9, 1995,they both pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to violate laws prohibiting prisonescape and other related activities In 1985, Marks and Wilmott purchased from anundercover F.B.I agent in Baton Rouge over 36 pounds of plastic explosives thatthey intended to use to help FALN leader Oscar Lopez escape from the U.S.penitentiary in Leavenworth, KS The FALN is a clandestine, Puerto Rican terroristgroup that since 1947 has been linked to over 130 bombings resulting in $3.5 million

in damages, 5 deaths, and 84 injuries

Ramzi Ahmed Yousef was caught in Islamabad, Pakistan on February 7, 1995and then charged in New York the next day for his alleged involvement in theFebruary 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing Later, he was also indicted forconspiring to bomb Philippine Airlines Flight 434 and to bomb several other U.S.air carriers in the Far East

On February 28, 1995, after four members of a domestic extremist groupmanufactured the biological agent ricin with the intent to kill law enforcementofficers, a Minneapolis jury convicted the members of a violating the BiologicalWeapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989

On March 9, 1995, one of the F.B.I.’s top ten fugitives, Melvin Edward Mays,

a member of the Chicago El Rukns street gang, was arrested and charged with over

40 federal counts related to conspiracy to conduct terrorist activities on behalf ofthe government of Libya Mays made the mistake of purchasing an inert light anti-tank weapon from an undercover F.B.I agent Other members of the gang wereconvicted as well, the first time in U.S history that American citizens had beenfound guilty of planning terrorist acts on behalf of a foreign government in returnfor money

On April 12, 1995, Michael “Mixie” Martin, who was said to be a supporter ofthe Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), pled guilty to conspiracy to obtain

munitions and weapons He and two other PIRA supporters had conspired to chase 2900 detonators in Tucson in 1989 and a stinger missile in Florida in 1990.Martin was sentenced to jail for 16 months and was deported in 1996 The othertwo men were sentenced to 19 months in prison for placing explosives in a motorvehicle, possession of stolen property, and aid of a foreign government and weredeported in 1996

pur-On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb made of ammonium nitrate and fuel oildestroyed the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168people and injuring hundreds, the deadliest terrorist act so far committed in theUnited States

On July 3, 1995, Rodney Coronado, who belonged to the Animal LiberationFront (ALF), was convicted of arson for a fire he started on February 2, 1992 atthe Mink Research Facility at Michigan State University He was sentenced to 57months in jail, 3 years probation, and restitution of over $2,000,000

On October 9, 1995, the Sunset Limited passenger train derailed near Hyder,

AZ killing one person and seriously injuring 12 others Someone had tampered withthe tracks, causing the train to derail Investigators found four typed letters thatmentioned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the F.B.I., Ruby Ridge,and Waco and were signed by the “Sons of the Gestapo.” It remains unclear whetherthis incident was criminal sabotage or terrorism, but the F.B.I is investigating thistrain wreck as a criminal matter and created a toll-free telephone number to appeal

to the public for assistance

In Vernon, OK during November of 1995, the leader of an Oklahoma militiawas arrested and charged with planning a bombing spree

Joseph Bailie and Ellis Hurst were convicted of attempting to blow up theInternal Revenue Service building in Reno, NV on December 18, 1995 A drumfilled with 100 pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil was found at the IRSbuilding

In Spokane, WA from April to July 1996, three bible-quoting men committedbank robberies and burned the offices of various businesses

During July 1996, Federal agents arrested members of the so-called “ViperMilitia” in Phoenix, AZ and seized over 300 pounds of ammonium nitrate, 70automatic rifles, and 200 blasting caps

In the fall of 1996, an unexplained incident occurred at a Dallas hospital whenmuffins and doughnuts were treated with shigella which causes dysentery Labora-tory staff were then sent e-mail messages inviting them to a free breakfast A dozen

of the 45 laboratory staff fell ill with severe intestinal symptoms

On September 24 and 25, 1996, roughly 600 contract workers at a Georgia Gulfplant that manufactures PVC (polyvinyl chloride) were modernizing a vinyl chloridemonomer unit when they and six company employees were sprayed with a coolmist Within hours, the workers’ skin began to blister in a delayed reaction Someweeks later, analysts at OSHA’s technical center in Salt Lake City found that thechemical mist contained mainly nitrogen mustard agent as well as a smaller amount

of sulfur mustard agent The same results were confirmed by the U.S Army’sAberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland Both sulfur mustard (H and HD), andnitrogen mustard (HN-1) agents can contaminate through inhalation, eye contact,

skin contact, and ingestion The U.S Army Center for Health Promotion and ventive Medicine explains that “HD is H that has been purified by washing andvacuum distillation to reduce sulfur impurities HD is a vesicant (blister agent) andalkylating agent producing cytotoxic action on the hematopoietic (blood forming)tissues … The rate of detoxification of HD in the body is very slow, and repeatedexposure produces a toxic effect The physiological action of HD may be classified

Pre-as local and systemic The local action results in conjunctivitis or inflammation ofthe eyes, erythema which may be followed by blistering or ulceration and inflam-mation of the nose, throat, trachea, bronchi, and lung tissue Injuries produced by

HD heal much more slowly and are more susceptible to infection than burns ofsimilar intensity produced by physical means or by most other chemicals…”For protective equipment required to handle nitrogen mustard (HN-1), the Armysays, “Mandatory — Wear butyl toxicological agent protective gloves Wear chem-ical goggles as a minimum; use goggles and face shield for splash hazard Wearfull protective clothing of M3 butyl rubber suit with hood, M2A1 boots, M3 gloves,treated underwear, and M9 mask and coverall (if desired).” No one had donned suchpersonal protective equipment prior to this incident

Georgia Gulf created mustard agents through an industrial process that handledethylene dichloride (EDC), a liquid that attacks the liver, lungs, and kidneys andmay cause cancer Georgia Gulf paid a $103,000 fine to OSHA for its handling ofhazardous chemicals But two years later, the company is still making tris, betterknown as nitrogen mustard gas Leading up to the September 24th incident, nitrogenmustard had collected as a solid in a device called a fin fan used to cool EDC and

as a liquid in reactor 201 A company known as Hydro-Chem cleaned the cloggedfin fan tubes with highly pressurized water allowing the residue to fall on contractworkers who have now sued Georgia Gulf

The company had deactivated the “Dopp kettle” used to collect hazardous wastefrom the reactor, according to the workers’ lawyer The kettle was taken out ofservice in the early 1980s because it did not work properly The contract workerscharged that Georgia Gulf failed to follow normal procedures by allowing them to

be hydroblasted while they were working A spokesman for the company said thecompany had no way of anticipating the risk because they did not know they weremaking tris In a letter to the state Department of Environmental Quality, a GeorgiaGulf engineer said, “there are a number of hazardous chemicals that are present inthe reactor liquid,” and that “tris is by no means the most hazardous.”

The Chemical Weapons Convention outlaws the formal manufacture of mustardgas, but does not ban manufacture as an unavoidable by-product of industrialproduction as long as the mustard gas does not represent more than 3% of the totalproduct

In Atlanta during July of 1996 and February of 1997, pipe bombs exploded atCentennial Olympic Park, an abortion clinic, and a homosexual bar killing one andinjuring more than 100

On November 9, 1996, TWA’s terminal at Kennedy Airport outside New YorkCity was evacuated for an hour after shoes in a passenger’s bag were found to havetraces of nitrate used in both bombs and fertilizer An X-ray screen device showedpotential for a bomb, and a specially trained dog confirmed the machine’s findings

On January 26, 1997 at Tooele, UT, low levels of the nerve agent GB (sarin)were detected in an area of the Deseret Chemical Depot Reportedly, no workerswere in the area and no agent was released outside the facility The plant had beenprocessing nerve-agent-filled ton containers since January 17 In that period, 30 toncontainers were drained and treated in the metal parts furnace, and 39,000 pounds

of agent were destroyed in a liquid incinerator

During March of 1997 in Kalamazoo, MI, Federal police arrested a local militiaactivist for allegedly giving 11 pipe bombs to a government informant and plotting

to bomb government offices , armories, and a television station

At Yuba City, CA in April 1997, police investigating an explosion that shatteredarea windows found 550 pounds of petrogel, a gelatin dynamite, kept by allegedmilitia members Police arrested a “freeman” sympathizer after explosives storedoutside his home exploded injuring the suspect and his two-year-old daughter.Several days later, two of the man’s friends were found with 500 pounds of explo-sives and detonating caps in a motor home

On April 8, 1997, air monitoring at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Marylandfound trace amounts of a nerve agent (tabun) after seven chemical rounds weredetonated All told, the facility destroyed 14 chemical rounds and 112 nonchemicalrounds The chemical rounds also included phosgene, a choking agent, and mustard,

a blistering agent The state was alerted and approved destruction of the final 7chemical rounds two days later Only 3 of 48 sensitive monitors near the detonationsite picked up low amounts of tabun Hand-held monitors detected no traces of thenerve agent, and monitors placed in homes five miles away showed no presence ofthe agent

On April 17, 1997, a leaking manila envelope was sent to B’nai B’rith, a nationalJewish service organization in Washington, D.C A threatening letter enclosedwarned that the envelope contained deadly anthrax bacillus The incident proved to

be a hoax

The F.B.I announced on April 22, 1997 that four people were arrested forplotting to blow up the Mitchell Energy and Development Corporation’s natural gasplant The suspects wanted to kill police and to cover the robbery of an armoredtruck The robbery, from which the group expected to net $2 million, was planned

to obtain money to buy weapons for future terrorist activities Dallas police workedwith an informer who had infiltrated the group The accused planned to attach threebombs to storage tanks, one easily visible and the other two concealed, and thencall in a bomb report They hoped that police would spot the visible bomb, butwould be killed later when the two hidden bombs went off

In Denver on May 1, 1997, Ronald D Cole, Wallace S Kennett, and Kevin I.Terry were arrested after federal agents seized rocket fuel, land mines, AK-47s, andmunitions from their rental home Kennett and Cole said they are members of theBranch Davidians, a cult in which several members died when federal agents burnedtheir headquarters in Waco, TX on April 19, 1993 Authorities declined to saywhether arrests were related to the Oklahoma City bombing trial then underway inDenver’s federal courthouse Prosecutors say Timothy McVeigh blew up the federalbuilding in retaliation for the deaths of more than 80 Branch Davidians, and that inthe months before the bombing in Oklahoma City, McVeigh attempted to purchase

rocket fuel Cole distributed literature in Denver when McVeigh’s trail opened March

31, 1997

About 14,000 people who received significant doses of radioactive material fromthe Hanford Nuclear Reservation, near Richland in southern Washington state,between 1945 and 1951 should be found and offered regular medical evaluationsaccording to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry This govern-ment agency says the U.S Department of Energy should sponsor the program tolook for thyroid cancer and other radiation-related conditions affecting the gland.The monitoring program is estimated to cost $4 million, plus an estimated $9.6million to operate in its first year These costs would not include funds for medicalcare

Mir Aimal Kansi, suspected as the lone gunman who killed two CIA agents infront of the Central Intelligence Agency building in Langley, VA, was captured inPakistan on June 7, 1997 and brought back to the United States Actually, he was

“bought” out of Pakistan The CIA paid $3.5 million to the fugitive’s own guards for his return

body-The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced in June

1997 that virtually all private wells in South Jersey are delivering radioactive waterand should be tested to determine the severity the problem The state printedthousands of booklets called, “The Homeowner’s Guide to Radioactive DrinkingWater” and made them available through county health departments The booklettells readers that “exposure to radium over a long period of time is believed toincrease one’s lifetime risk of cancer,” including bone and sinus cancer The con-tamination is thought to come from ancient rocks in the Cohansey Aquifer and hasbeen affecting the water for thousands of years

During June of 1997, police arrested two brothers wanted for a shooting incidentwith Ohio police officers near Cincinnati A search of their vehicle produced weap-ons, bulletproof vests, F.B.I baseball caps, and U.S marshal badges One of thebrothers was charged with possession of weapons that had been stolen allegedlyfrom an Arkansas gun dealer found murdered along with his wife and daughter inJune of 1996

In July of 1997, the U.S Army planned to transport 241,328 “binary” chemicalweapons (two chemicals that must be mixed together to form a deadly tool; weapons

in storage contain only one of these chemicals) from storage space at the UmatillaWeapons Depot in Oregon to an ammunition plant in Hawthorne, NV for destruction.The project will take several years to complete Every week six trucks will eachcarry 400, 155 mm, chemical projectiles designed to be fired by cannon Each truckwill be tracked by satellite carried on-board

At Fort Hood, TX in July of 1997, an antigovernment group was planning anattack on the fort acting under the impression that Army bases are training UnitedNations troops to stage a coup Seven people were arrested and machine guns andpipe bombs were seized

An emergency alarm system was shut down for at least five days on July 22,

1997 The Oregon Emergency Management Agency oversees the operation of 42sirens and 9 reader boards as part of the Chemical Stockpile Preparedness Program’soutdoor warning system at the Umatilla Chemical Depot near Hermiston The

emergency system linked to the Army nerve gas storage area was shut down in twocounties when air-cooling systems overheated at two or three remote transmissionsites and caused “irregularities” in the system’s operation.

On August 5, 1997 in Washington, D.C., two Pentagon Defense ProtectiveService security guards wrestled to the ground an apparently deranged man, SteveMaestas of Covina, CA Maestas had pulled a loaded gun and tried to enter thePentagon with a knapsack full of 12 ten-round clips of 9 mm ammunition This washis third attempt to enter the building during the morning rush hour

On August 10, 1997 in Westminster, CA, a man was killed by a bomb in aparcel he found outside his residence William Bays died from massive chest andhead injuries Two friends who were standing nearby suffered ear injuries but wereotherwise unharmed The package was not mailed or delivered by a package service,but it reportedly had a name on it A hail of metal fragments tore through a clutteredgarage where the package was opened, leaving stored items peppered with smallholes No motive or suspects are known

On August 13, 1997 in Wheeling, WV, Floyd “Ray” Looker pleaded guilty toselling copies of blueprints of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s fingerprintcomplex to what he believed was a terrorist group that planned to blow up the center

He sold the copies for $50,000 to an undercover F.B.I agent James “Rich” Rogers,

a firefighter accused of making the photocopies of the blueprints, is scheduled tostand trial

On August 19, 1997 in Colebrook, NH, Carl Drega, 67, apparently becameincensed by local government officials in northern New Hampshire He went on arampage with an AR15 rifle and killed two state troopers, a District Court Judge,and a newspaper editor Drega then burned his house He fled to Brunswick, VT,wounding a New Hampshire Fish and Game officer on the way, and established anambush site A police dog warned police that something was wrong, but three officerswere wounded before finally killing Drega When officials visited his isolatedproperty in the town of Columbia, NH they found 86 empty pipe bombs, 400 pounds

of ammonium nitrate, 61 gallons of diesel fuel to set it off, gunpowder, three Kevlarhelmets, one semiautomatic rifle, a maze of tunnels, and birdhouses wired withelectronic listening devices Drega had a long-running feud with local officials overproperty rights and other issues, and after the incident officials worried about hisactivities as an employee at local nuclear power plants (Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim,and Indian Point) On September 5, 1997 the Nuclear Regulatory Commissioncompleted an inquiry “to determine if the access programs, as implemented, iden-tified information that should have precluded Drega from being granted unescortedaccess,” and reported the three nuclear plants had followed federal security regula-tions

On August 29, 1997, indictments were returned in New York charging GaziIbrahim Abu Mezer, 23, and Lafi Khalil, 22, with conspiring to explode a pipe bomb

in the New York City subway Their confederate and roommate informed police oftheir location and plans to detonate bombs in the busy Atlantic Avenue subwaystation and on a commuter bus Prosecutors stated that a global investigation failed

to link the plot to any known terrorist group Mezer and Khalil were arrested in aBrooklyn apartment on July 31, 1997 where police found components of one or

more pipe bombs Both suspects were shot during their arrest when one of themreportedly tried to reach a nail-studded device resembling a pipe bomb Abu Mezerhad been detained by federal authorities earlier in the year, but was given 60 days

of freedom — until August 23, 1997 — when he was arrested with Lafi Khalil forplanning to bomb the New York City subway In the previous months, Mezer hadbeen caught trying to illegally cross the border from Canada to the United Statesthree times However, Canada refused to accept him back the third time, and Mezersubsequently requested political asylum in the United States

On October 1, 1997, a leaking container of hazardous pesticide — one of ten50-pound bags illegally placed on an American Airlines passenger aircraft — pro-duced fumes and sickened passengers at Miami International Airport just beforetakeoff to Ecuador The passengers were evacuated and put on another flight Theten packages were covered with plastic wrapping that hid the “Hazardous Materials”labels, they were not packaged securely, and they contained an amount of Dowicide

A pesticide more than 200 times the maximum permitted on a passenger flight (apassenger is allowed to bring 2.2 pounds of Dowicide on a flight if it is properlypackaged and labeled) A courier paid $800 in extra baggage fees for 22 bags andboxes, ten of which contained Dowicide The courier told the F.B.I what he earnedfor his work: a $100 discount on his airline ticket

On October 1, 1997 in Pearl, MS, 16-year-old Luke Woodham was the first tostart a series of killings in U.S high schools and middle schools that has continued

to the present day He killed his mother at home; then he went to his high schooland killed three students and wounded seven

Six marines from Camp Lejuene, one captain, and seven civilians were arrested

on October 16, 1997 after a nationwide investigation of the misappropriation ofmilitary weapons including rocket launchers, machine guns, mines, mortars, andgrenades Five marines held in custody are suspected of independently hiding extraweapons from training exercises and seeking buyers Federal agents acting as mid-dlemen bought the stolen explosives and other weapons and then sold them to gunenthusiasts searching for greater firepower

Republic of Texas leader Richard McLaren and top lieutenant Robert Otto wereconvicted October 31, 1997 of abducting a couple The incident led to a week-longarmed standoff with authorities McLaren and Otto were found guilty of organizedcriminal activity in the April 27, 1997 abduction that lasted until May 3, 1997 when

as many as 300 state troopers and Texas Rangers caused them to lay down their guns

In November of 1997, skinheads in Denver, CO shot at cops and bystanders,killing an African immigrant and a police officer

During November of 1997, E coli bacteria was discovered in hoses used to fillwater tanks on Amtrak trains at a maintenance facility in Miami, FL after routinetests found bacteria in train drinking water The hoses were replaced and water tanks

on 250 passenger rail cars were flushed and disinfected

The Army’s chemical weapons incinerator at the Deseret Chemical Facility inTooele County was cited on November 17, 1997 for 25 state hazardous-wasteregulations identified during its first year of operation None of the violations wasserious enough to warrant closing the facility noted the Utah Division of Solid andHazardous Waste, and most were discovered by workers and reported to the state

Some of the most serious violations carry fines of up to $10,000 per incident Themost serious incident probably occurred on January 26, 1997 when doors left openfor maintenance work allowed chemical agent to leak into an observation corridor.

On December 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, age 14, killed three of his fellowstudents at a morning prayer meeting in West Paducah, KY Another student wasable to overcome Carneal when he stopped to reload

On December 12, 1997 in Little Rock, AR, two white supremacists were chargedwith murder, racketeering, and conspiracy for planning to overthrow the federalgovernment and replace it with an Aryan People’s Republic

Also on December 12, 1997 in Philadelphia, PA, a man was charged with leavingpipe bombs at various businesses and painting swastikas on politicians’ offices

On the weekend of December 13, 1997, 600 pounds of ammonium nitratefertilizer mixed with fuel oil were stolen from Jerico Services Facility in WeepingWater, NE Twelve 50-pound bags trade-named “Pellite” were missing from asemitrailer, although no dynamite or blasting caps which could be used as detonatorswere missing from the site The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearmshas posted a $5000 reward for information, and can be called at 1-888-ATF-BOMB

In December 1997, a ship carrying three containers of methyl bromide, apoisonous gas, was met at Port Elizabeth, NJ by state and federal authorities aftercrew members of the Teval reported an odor during a crossing from Spain The shipflying the flag of Malta was halted at Ambrose Light while a commercial responsecontractor hired by Lykes Lines went aboard and conducted a series of air qualitytests outside the containers All tests were negative, and the ship was allowed todock at Port Elizabeth

Recently, the media has touted irradiation as a solution to food contamination

In the mid to late 1980s, the U.S Department of Energy sent hundreds of containing capsules around the country to attempt to find an industrial use forradioactive strontium and cesium waste they had stockpiled after 50 years of makingnuclear weapons The department did not want to call the radioactive materials

radiation-“wastes” or to develop a disposal plan The central idea to this effort was to usesuch radiation for sterilizing food or medical instruments In 1988, at an irradiationplant in Decatur, GA, one capsule developed a pinhole leak and 0.02% of its contentsescaped The D.O.E spent more than four years and $47 million to clean up theleak and make the facility safe once again All the capsules sent around the countrywere brought back to the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site at Richland, WA to

be tested Since 1988, 16 of approximately 2000 capsules have failed the test andhave been segregated Maintenance for all the capsules costs about $10 million ayear The D.O.E was to decide by the end of 1997 whether to declare the waste as

“waste.” On February 12, 1999, the Department of Agriculture Secretary announced

at a meeting of the National Beef Cattlemen’s Association in Charlotte, NC that hisdepartment has approved the controversial process for using nuclear energy to treatpotentially contaminated meat

On December 18, 1997 at the Malton Canada Post office in Toronto, a lettercarrier noticed a hole in a parcel that was labeled as containing at least 17 differentinfectious bacteria including influenza, gonorrhea, and hepatitis A spokesman forthe Toronto local chapter of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers stated that

management did not take any precautionary measures, and that it was an employeewho called 911 and the fire department Only after police and firefighters arrived

at the postal station were workers told to leave the building The package wastraveling from Minnesota to PML Microbiologicals in Mississauga, Ontario Labels

on the package noted that if the package was damaged, the Center for DiseaseControl in Atlanta should be called The Canada Post bans perishable biologicalsubstances “except when sent between officially recognized laboratories.” The holewas in an outside package, and the inner package had not leaked A vice-presidentwith the union local said, “I never thought they would allow something like thisthrough the mail.”

In January of 1998 at Riverside, CA, a former Air Force Ordnance expert whoworked as a safety and quality control officer for Allied Technology Group wascharged with second-degree murder for allegedly allowing a live military shell to

be taken from the cleanup of live-fire areas at the Army National Training Center

at Fort Irwin and to be delivered to Dick’s Auto Wrecking in Fontana as scrap metal.One 105-millimeter shell exploded and killed a worker who was attempting todismantle it with a blowtorch The safety officer falsely certified that he hadinspected demilitarized scrap and concluded it no longer contained explosive mate-rial County and federal investigators found 54 additional pieces of live ammunition

at the Fontana wrecking yard, including 30 that were considered potentially lethal

if they exploded The defendant was held in jail on $250,000 bail

The Salt Lake Tribune reported in its January 1, 1998 issue that a newlyuncovered document shows the U.S Army had conclusive proof a deadly nerve agent(Agent VX) was in grass and snow eaten by 6000 sheep that died in Skull Valley

in 1968 Agent VX is a colorless to amber liquid with no noticeable odor, a vapordensity of 9.2, and a median lethal dosage of 100 (mg-min/m3) It has very higheye and skin toxicity, its rate of action is very rapid, and it produces casualties wheninhaled or absorbed The Army had proof for many years that the nerve agent wasfound where the 6000 sheep died in western Utah on March 14, 1968 — apparentlyafter a low-flying aircraft sprayed nerve agent in a target area at the Dugway ProvingGround about 27 miles west of Skull Valley “Agent VX was found to be present

in snow and grass samples that were received approximately three weeks after thesheep incident,” said a newly-located report prepared in 1970 by the Army’s Edge-wood Arsenal and obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune The 1970 report concluded,

“…it is possible that the quantity of VX originally present was sufficient to accountfor the death of the sheep.” The military still refuses to accept responsibility for theaccident However, federal testing of recently discovered sheep burial pits at SkullValley is scheduled to begin within the next few months, 30 years after the deaths

A Middlebury College freshman appeared in U.S District Court in Burlington,

VT on January 7, 1998 to answer to charges of handling explosives after his duffelbag was found smoking at an airport in St Louis A St Louis County bomb squadchecked the bag and found homemade explosives that were sensitive to friction andimpact The student, Timothy Boarini, of Iowa City, was allowed to continue histrip without the bag, and filed a claim for missing luggage Early in the morning

of his court appearance, he was picked up by the F.B.I at his dormitory room Ifconvicted, the student could be jailed for up to ten years and fined $250,000