Report of DU / Uranium Munitions
Action Group March 17, 2007
Regarding
the legislative work
session on the health/illness effects of uranium munitions on returning
Washington National Guards:
I
am sorry to report, that with
the deadline just passed for submitting new bills, and with only six
weeks of
legislative activity remaining until the next session is convened in
January
2008, our chairperson Jerry Muchmore and I have been unable to
establish a date
or time, or even the person responsible for calling the meeting.
Rob
Duff in the Health Dept.
(see prior report) assured me that there would be such a session in
which we
could offer input to the draft report, but neither he nor my Rep. Tami
Green
(Co-Chair of the House Committee on Veterans' and Military Affairs)
have been
able to give particulars. It is unclear if this is lack of
coordination, or if
someone in state government is "stonewalling" this concern.
The federal government has been
reassuring and defunding
statistical studies since 1994. (see addendum 1) The federal government
is
quite aware of the hazards. (see addendum 2) The draft report from the
Washington Military and Health Depts suggested the responsibility for
assessment should remain with the VA. This is all too reminiscent of
the
delayed responses to Agent Orange and PTSD depression/suicide.
Our action group will meet and decide
how to proceed.
George Hill, sec'y
Addendum 1: "The Persian Gulf
Experience and
Health" published by the National Institutes of Health, Technology
Assessment Workshop Statement, April 27-29, 1994,
from the Office of the Director of the NIH. Page 16:
"The panel found that few data are
available regarding
the troops who served in the Persian
Gulf
[Gulf War 1, 1990-1991] and their exposures during that period of
service, and
that data collection that was carried out was initiated only after a
considerable delay. The panel therefore strongly recommends that the
Department
of Defense develop plans for prompt collection of high-quality relevant
data at
any time US forces are deployed in the future. The data collected
should
include baseline data regarding the pre-deployment health status of the
troops,
the environmental characteristics of their surroundings, their
exposures during
deployment and their health status both at the end of deployment and
subsequently. Plans for such data collection should be developed by a
multi-disciplinary group including clinicians, occupational physicians,
epidemiologists, and industrial hygienists, among others. Input from
outside
the Department of Defense should be solicited before the plan is
finalized, and
the final plan should be reviewed and revised periodically thereafter.
From the
time this planning effort is initiated the group or individuals who
will be
responsible for its successful implementation should be clearly
designated."
Addendum 2: From National
Gulf War Resource Center
(NGWRC):
Aberdeen
Test Ground:
Precautions In USA
These
pictures are worth
thousands of words. They show the military does realize uranium
munitions are
toxic. The precautions bear no resemblance to battlefield conditions.
Compare
to the denials of risk and harm from their use. http://www.ngwrc.org/Dulink/aberdeen.htm
(It may take 30-60 sec for
pictures to load.)
