Bill Text: MO HCR44 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Strongly urges the United States Army to explain chemical testing which occurred in St. Louis in the 1950s and 1960s and requests the federal government to conduct a study on the health effects of such testing
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-16 - Referred: General Laws(H) [HCR44 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2014-HCR44-Introduced.html
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 44
97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES SMITH (Sponsor), GARDNER, PACE, WALTON GRAY AND MIMS (Co-sponsors).
WHEREAS, during the 1950s and 1960s, as part of a series of Cold War experiments, the United States Army dusted chosen American cities from coast to coast with a fine powder of a fluorescent, potentially toxic chemical; and
WHEREAS, the powder scattering was part of Operation Large Area Coverage (LAC), a series of tests the Army says were designed to assess the threat of biological attacks by simulating the airborne dispersion of germs; and
WHEREAS, the experiments exposed large portions of the United States, and parts of Mexico and Canada, to flurries of a synthesized chemical called zinc cadmium sulfide; and
WHEREAS, in 2012, previously classified documents revealed new details about how and where the United States Army sprayed chemical agents over thousands of unwitting residents of some 33 urban and rural areas, including St. Louis, in which populations were deliberately exposed without their knowledge; and
WHEREAS, St. Louis was one of the cities singled out for heavy-duty testing during Operation LAC. Testing was conducted throughout the Pruitt-Igoe housing project located northwest of downtown St. Louis, a low-income and predominantly minority community of 10,000 people, with approximately 70% of the community comprised of children under the age of twelve; and
WHEREAS, in St. Louis, the United States Army spread zinc cadmium sulfide with motorized blowers perched atop low-income housing buildings and schools, claiming at the time that the machines were part of a test for smoke screens that could guard against aerial observation by the Russians; and
WHEREAS, despite the extent of the experiments, local politicians were not notified about the content of the testing. When the true purpose of the machines was revealed by the Army in 1994, a public outcry led to Congress requesting that the National Research Council probe zinc cadmium sulfide's health effects; and
WHEREAS, the National Research Council's report concluded that, while the toxicity of zinc cadmium sulfide itself was not well understood, the quantities of the chemical released by the United States Army would not have harmed the public even if the cadmium involved had acted similarly to the purer, more toxic forms of the element; and
WHEREAS, the National Academy of Sciences also concluded that zinc cadmium sulfide exposure did not pose a threat to human health, while acknowledging that more toxicity studies should be conducted; and
WHEREAS, in 1994, the New York Times reported that zinc cadmium sulfide was sprayed over an elementary school in Minneapolis, where former students later reported an unusually high number of stillbirths and birth defects; and
WHEREAS, exposure to zinc cadmium sulfide has been linked to devastating side effects, such as lung cancer, prostate cancer, death, developmental defects in children, liver damage, kidney damage, calcium deficiency, osteoporosis, osteomalacia, anemia, loss of sense of smell, reduced sperm count, discoloration of teeth, pulmonary edema, chemical pneumonitis, respiratory failure, emphysema, dyspnea, bronchitis, chronic rhinitis, and decreased birth weights; and
WHEREAS, according to the Army's documents, one of the compounds that was sprayed on the public was called "FP2266", also known as "Radium 226". The now-defunct US Radium Company came under fire and numerous lawsuits were filed after several of its workers were exposed to dangerous levels of Radium 226 in its fluorescent paint. US Radium Company was found liable for producing a radioactive powdered paint that killed many young women who painted fluorescent watch tiles; and
WHEREAS, the Army never followed up on the long-term health of the residents exposed to the testing during Operation LAC. In 1972, the government destroyed the Pruitt-Igoe houses; and
WHEREAS, Operation LAC tests also included the dispersion of biological agents, which were thought not to be harmful at the time, but some of the organisms used have since been shown to be potentially pathogenic in people with weakened immune systems; and
WHEREAS, an explanation and answers from the federal government regarding what occurred and the potential health effects of Operation Large Area Coverage testing which occurred in the 1950s and 1960s is long overdue for the people of St. Louis and all the communities impacted:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-seventh General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby strongly urge and request that:
(1) The United States Army hold town hall sessions in the St. Louis region to explain the testing which occurred as a result of Operation Large Area Coverage in the 1950s and 1960s in St. Louis; and
(2) The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Health and Human Services conduct a study to track the health effects on populations exposed to Operation Large Area Coverage testing; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for John McHugh, Secretary of the Army; Kathleen Sebelius, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services; Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation.
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