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DEPLETED URANIUM TESTS PROPOSED FOR MINNESOTA
VETERANS -- State Senate committee OK'd a bill
providing
for testing veterans to see if dust from
spent-uranium
munitions has harmed them.
Story here...
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1112856.html
Story below:
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Uranium tests for veterans proposed
A Senate committee OK'd a bill providing for
testing veterans to see if dust from spent-uranium munitions has harmed
them.
By Pat Doyle, Star Tribune
The shells vaporize on impact and spread a uranium dust that some
veterans of recent wars suspect has left them with cancers, respiratory
disease or kidney problems.
Though studies have not clearly established a risk of battlefield
contamination, the Legislature is advancing bills that would provide
sophisticated testing of veterans for exposure to the powder in the 1991
Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A Senate panel on Tuesday approved a proposal to spend $1 million to
test more than 800 veterans for exposure to depleted uranium, which the
U.S. military has used to harden shells and other munitions for piercing
armor.
The legislation puts Minnesota at the forefront of a gradual movement by
states -- whose National Guard members and reservists have contributed
heavily to the wars -- to improve testing for uranium and determine its
long-term consequences.
While critics say proponents have failed to make a convincing case for
more testing, advocates liken their campaign to early efforts to learn
about the effects of defoliants on soldiers in Vietnam.
"Exposure to depleted uranium may well be the Agent Orange of the Iraqi
wars," David Francis, a retired Navy officer who served on nuclear
submarines, told the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Veterans. "When
we send our men and women into war ... we have a sacred obligation to
provide the best possible health care for them when they come home."
The state House is advancing a similar proposal to fund sophisticated
testing of veterans who feel they are suffering health problems
resulting from exposure to depleted uranium.
National study in 2000
The substance is a byproduct of the processing of uranium for nuclear
power and weapons, and the military has used the leftover uranium to
strengthen munitions. While it is far less radioactive than uranium in
its natural state, there have been persistent fears that inhaled or
otherwise ingested, depleted uranium dust can cause serious health
problems.
The National Academies in 2000 studied depleted uranium and Gulf War
veterans and said there was insufficient evidence to link it to
lymphatic or bone cancer, noncancerous respiratory disease, and
illnesses of the nervous system and liver.
But the academies recommended more study and is conducting one now that
is expected to be finished in September.
Proponents of sophisticated testing say an existing test used by the
federal government is inadequate for detecting toxic levels of depleted
uranium and not always readily available to veterans. They argue that
states need to take the initiative in behalf of returning National Guard
members and reservists. Connecticut and Louisiana have already passed
such legislation.
Some want medical testimony
But Michael Pugliese, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of
Veterans Affairs, told the Senate committee that supporters failed to
provide rigorous medical testimony for why better testing is needed.
"We don't have any experts here," Pugliese said, adding that the
Veterans Affairs Department assured him that it relied on experts to
develop the test it uses.
He added in an interview that the Pawlenty administration probably
wouldn't support the legislation unless there was strong evidence the
new testing is better than the existing federal testing and treatment.
It was a concern shared by Sen. Steve Dille, R-Dassel, who wanted to
hear from health experts on the necessity for Minnesota to spend money
for testing. An earlier version of the proposal called for spending $3
million.
"I need more information," Dille said. "It would be helpful to me, if
we're going to do this, if there was a health-care professional ... who
could advocate for this."
The proposal's author, Sharon Erickson Ropes, DFL-Winona, replied:
"We're never going to know what problems we have unless we can test."
But she said adequate testing will be resisted without proof that
depleted uranium has adverse health effects.
"Don't wait for scientific certainty," added Francis, who ran
unsuccessfully for the state Senate last year as a DFLer. "The health
risk of Agent Orange and second-hand smoke were ignored far too long,
and people died. Do not rely on the federal government or the Department
of Defense."
The Senate Agriculture and Veterans Committee sent the proposal to the
Senate Finance Committee.
Pat Doyle • 651-222-1210 •
pdoyle@startribune.com
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Larry Scott --
