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Endnotes
TEST TUBE REPUBLIC: Chemical Weapons Tests in Panama and U.S. Responsibility
Endnotes
I. Introduction
II. Brief History of Chemical Weapons Programs in Panama
III. Storage of Chemical Agents and Munitions
IV. Chemical Weapons Tests
V. Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions
VI. Potential Long-Term Dangers Posed by Abandoned Chemical Weapons
VII. Information and Documents on Chemical Weapons: The U.S. Record
VIII. Legal Obligations
IX. Alleged development of biological agents in Panama
X. Conclusions and Recommendations
Appendices
Endnotes
- 1 Donald Richter, Chemical Soldiers: British Gas Warfare in World War I, (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992), p. 195.
- 2 Leo P. Brophy, Wyndham D. Miles and Rexmond C. Cochrane, The Chemical Warfare Service: From laboratory to field, Washington: Department of the Army, Office of the Chief of Military History, 1959, p. 227.
- 3 Brown to Army Adjutant General, March 13, 1931, in National Archives (hereafter cited as NARA), RG175/290/3/16/2-3, Box 159.
- 4 Ibid., pp. 208-209.
- 5 Minutes of meetings of the Advisory Committee on the Effectiveness of Gas Warfare Materiel in the Tropics, March 4, 1944, May 17, 1944, July 19, 1944, and December 7, 1944, in NARA, RG 175, 290/3/28/142.
- 6 Robert D. McLeod, Jr., "In the wake of the Golden Galleon," Armed Forces Chemical Journal, IX (March-April 1955), pp. 36-39.
- 7 "A Historical Record of the San Jose Project," c. 1945, NARA (RG 338/290/40/17/2, Box 1), p. 1.
- 8 Leo P. Brophy and George J.B. Fisher, The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing for War, Washington: Department of the Army, Office of the Chief of Military History, 1959, p. 136.
- 9 Exchange of diplomatic notes, cited in Herasto Reyes, "Contaminaciones militares en Panamá: El caso de la isla de San José," La Prensa, July 3, 1997.
- 10 Headquarters, San Jose Project, "General Order Number 11," 6 July 1944, report on San Jose Project, in NARA, College Park, MD.
- 11 "Chemical Corps Tropical Test Team, Fort Clayton, Canal Zone," Dugway Proving Ground, January 25, 1956, p. 33.
- 12 Ibid., pp. 9, 11, 13.
- 13 Ibid., p. 11.
- 14 U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, Dugway Proving Ground, "Chemical Corps Participation in Project Swamp Fox I," November 1962, p. 6.
- 15 U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, Dugway Proving Ground, "Chemical Corps Participation in Project Swamp Fox I," November 1962 (AD #896503); Army Ballistic Research Lab, Aberdeen Proving Ground, "Swamp Fox II, Republic of Panama, Volume VIII, Target Acquisition," April 1964 (AD #440862).
- 16 PRC Environmental Management, Inc., "Unexploded Ordnance Assessment of U.S. Military Ranges in Panama: Empire, Balboa West and Piña Ranges," January 1997, p. 25.
- 17 Ibid.; list of Tropic Test Center tests, with report numbers, compiled by Rick Stauber, EOD specialist, while under contract with PRC Environmental Management, Inc. for the study cited here.
- 18 Ibid., pp. 9, 11. The references were not available for review at the writing of this report.
- 19 Communication to author from Theodore Henry, Managing Director of the Community Health Assessment & Public Participation (CHAPP) Center, July 17, 1998.
- 20 Ibid. and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Chemical Disarmament: New Weapons for Old, (New York: Humanities Press, 197_), pp. 81.
- 21 Public Law 91-121, November 19, 1969, as Amended, paragraph 1513.
- 22 Letter from Col. Michael Debow, Co-chairman, Environmental Subcommittee, Joint Committee, to Lic. Ramiro Castrejón, Co-chairman, Environmental Sub-committee, DEPAT, August 18, 1997.
- 23 PRC Environmental Management, Inc., op.cit., p. 25.
- 24 R.H. McIntosh, et al, "Development Test II (Prototype qualification test-government (Tropic Environmental Phase) of AH-64 Chemical Biological (CB) Protective Mask," May-Dec. 1985. (AD# B102800)
- 25 Cpt. Jerzell L. Black, "NBC Stakes in Panama," CML, Army Chemical Review, September 1987, pp. 32-35.
- 26 Graham Stullenbarger, "Proposal for Tropic Test Center Membership in the City of Knowledge," July 21, 1997, p. B-2.
- 27 Acting Chief of Staff Colonel Wallace C. Philoon, "Chemical Annex to Panama Canal Defense Project," December 1, 1940, NARA, RG 338.
- 28 Brophy, Miles and Cochrane, op.cit., pp. 263, 265, 375.
- 29 Lt. Gen. Daniel Van Voorhis, to Adjutant General, August 1, 1941, in NARA, RG338, 290/40/17/3-6, Box 60.
- 30 "Camouflage problems in the Canal Zone: Report on a survey of camouflage requirements in the Canal Zone made on March 25-April 8," [1941], NARA, RG338, 290/40/16/7-18; Lt. Col. S.C. Godfrey, "Cerro Tigre Drainage Project," memo to Dept. Ordnance Officer, August 21, 1936, NARA, RG98, 471.88, Box 6; "Installation of Utilities at Cerro Tigre Ammunition Depot," March 17, 1938, from PCD Dept. Engineer to Ordnance Officer, Ibid.
- 31 U.S. Army Signal Corps, "The San Jose Project," film available in NARA, College Park, MD, circa 1945.
- 32 Officer of the Chemical Officer, Hq Panama Canal Department, to Lt. Col. J.C. Prentice, Office of the Chief, Chemical Corps, 10 December 1946, in NARA RG 338.
- 33 Interview with Roy Blades by the author, June 24, 1998.
- 34 Letter from Jack Cadenhead, November 1997; interview with Jack Cadenhead by author, May 24, 1998.
- 35 F.I. Diehl et al, "Report on Tests of Protective Clothing - Phase III: Tropical Zone Tests (Panama), June 1943, cited in Major R.C. Carlisle and Capt. F.I. Diehl, "The stability and irritancy of permeable protective clothing and the irritancy of ointment, protective, M5, in tropical wearing trials (Southwest Pacific Area), May 4, 1945, in NARA, San Jose Project files.
- 36 Capt. Jay S. Stockhardt, "San Jose Project," Armed Forces Chemical Journal, January 1948, p. 34.
- 37 HQ, San Jose Project, "General Order Number 11," op.cit.
- 38 Interview of Weldon Guest by the author, September 3, 1997.
- 39 U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1945, op.cit.
- 40"A Long Term Strategic Plan for the Defene of the Panama Canal, 1946," RG 338, NARA. The map is marked: "Iguana Island Range - High Level Bombing, Strafing, Chemical Spray". For comments on the island's use for conventional munitions, see Betty Brannan Jaén, "De la contaminación en Isla Iguana," La Prensa, July 16, 1997.
- 41 LTC Grant S. Green, Jr., memorandum to Jeffrey Farrow, White House Counselor on Territorial Policy, December 19, 1979.
- 42 Interviews with Eugene Reid by author, September 16, 1997 and June 7, 1998.
- 43 Robert Harris and Jeremy Paxman, A Higher Form of Killing: The secret story of chemical and biological warfare, New York: Hill and Wang, 1982, pp. 137-138.
- 44 Herasto Reyes, "La siembra de la contaminación," La Prensa, July 29, 1997. The Signal Corps film says the goats were shipped from New Orleans.
- 45 Col. John R. Wood, "Work of the CC Medical Division," Armed Forces Chemical Journal, January 1948, p. 7.
- 46 Marion B. Sulzberger, "Protection and treatment of the skin exposed to blister gases," in E.C. Andrus, et.al., editors, Advances in Military Medicine, (Boston: Little, Brown), 1948, p. 591.
- 47 Interview with Dr. Morton Galdston with author, September 21, 1997.
- 48 "San Jose Project Report No. 24 Summary," in letter from Secretary of Defense William Cohen to U.S. Representative José Serrano, April 7, 1998.
- 49 Dugway Proving Ground Test Plan 704, "Surveillance Test (Environmental) of Mine, Gas Persistent, VX, 2-Gallon, ABC-M23" (USATECOM Project No. 5-3-9504-1); Dugway Proving Ground Test Plan 719, "Surveillance Test (Environmental) of Projectile, Gas Persistent, VX, 155mm, M121A1" (USATECOM Project No. 5-4-9503-1); Dugway Proving Ground Test Plan 723, "Surveillance Test (Environmental) of Rocket, Gas Persistent, VX, 155mm, M55" (USATECOM Project No. 5-4-9502-1); and "Change to Surveillance (Environmental) Plan for Rocket, Gas Nonpersistent, GB, 115mm, M55" (USATECOM Project No. 5-4-9501-01). Obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. All data obtained from these reports unless otherwise noted.
- 50 U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Disposal of Chemical Weapons: Alternative Technologies-Background Paper, OTA-BP-O-95 (Washington, DC: US GPO, June 1992), p. 7.
- 51 U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, Dugway Proving Ground, "Environmental Field Test: Food Testing and Screening Kit, Chemical Agents, ABC-M3," December 1962, pp. 12, 21-23.
- 52 Blades interview, op.cit.
- 53 "Locations and Coordinates of Tropic Test Center Test Sites," no date. Obtained through the Freedom of Information Act; and PRC Environmental Management, Inc., 1997, op.cit, Empire Range map.
- 54 Reid, op.cit.
- 55 Interview with Rick Stauber by the author, June 26, 1998.
- 56 "San Jose Project Post Diary, 1947," in NARA, San Jose Project files.
- 57 Capt. Jay S. Stockhardt & 1st Lt. Stephen D. Noyes, "The San Jose Project Moves," Armed Forces Chemical Journal, January 1949, p. 53.
- 58 "San Jose Project Post Diary, 1 Jan 48-31 Dec 1948," in NARA, San Jose Project files.
- 59 Green, op.cit.
- 60 Stockhardt and Noyes, op.cit., p. 54.
- 61 "Survey and Analysis Report," Draft version, April 1993.
- 62 1948 Post Diary, op.cit.
- 63 Letter from Rick Stauber to author, July 18, 1998.
- 64 "EU enterró municiones," El Panamá América, April 13, 1998, p. 1.
- 65 "Esperan que EU informe a Panamá sobre uso de campos de tiro," La Prensa, May 4, 1998.
- 66 Communication from Theodore Henry to author, July 13, 1998.
- 67 Rafael Pérez Jaramillo, "Panamá: ¿laboratorio de armas químicas?" El Panamá América, April 19, 1998, p. A2.
- 68 Communication from Theodore Henry, University of Maryland Toxicology Program, July 13, 1998.
- 69 Hongmei Deng and Peter O'Meara Evans, "Social and Environmental Aspects of Abandoned Chemical Weapons in China," The Nonproliferation Review, Spring-Summer 1997, p. 102.
- 70 Ibid., pp. 102-103.
- 71 Ted Henry, University of Maryland Program in Toxicology, note to author and PINS accuracy data for suspect munitions, June 23, 1998.
- 72 Richard McSeveney, interview with FOR and CEASPA, April 24, 1998. At the conclusion of the same meeting, Mr. McSeveney's technical assistant, Navy Commander Hulin Davis, turned to the author and said, "You mentioned something, the Chemical Weapons Convention. What is that?"
- 73 John Hart, "Some historical, legal and technical aspects of disposal of old and abandoned chemical weapons," presented in Budapest, Hungary, 2-4 April 1997, p. 12.
- 74 Communication from Col. Edmund W. Libby to author, July 20, 1998.
- 75 Green, op.cit., p. 2.
- 76 Letter from Glenn Tupper to the author, June 22, 1998.
- 77 Constance M. Pechura and David P. Rall (eds.), Veterans at Risk: The Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite, (Washington: National Academy Press, 1993), pp. 2-8.
- 78 Letters from Lic. Ramiro Castrejón, Co-chairman, Environmental Sub-committee, DEPAT, to Col. Michael Debow, Co-chairman, Environmental Sub-committee, U.S. Army South, on January 28, 1997 (CCj-053-97) and August 1, 1997 (CCj-388-97).
- 79 Interview with author, Lic. Sayda de Grimaldo, Regional Interoceanic Authority, June 24, 1998.
- 80 Dr. Rodrigo Noriega, Director for International Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, note to author, June 8, 1998; and interview with Lic. Ramiro Castrejón, June 1998; communication from Fernando Manfredo, Jr. to author, July 20, 1998.
- 81 Debow, op.cit.
- 82 Letter from Fellowship of Reconciliation to U.S. Army, April 25, 1997; denial letter from U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command, May 13, 1997; appeal of denial by Fellowship of Reconciliation, July 19, 1997; phone conversation between Suzanne Council, Office of the Army General Counsel, and the author, Fellowship of Reconciliation, May 1, 1998; denial letter of appeal from Army Principal Deputy General Counsel, Lawrence M. Baskir, May 20, 1998.
- 83 Lawrence M. Baskir, Principal Deputy General Counsel, Department of the Army, letter to author, May 20, 1998.
- 84 U.S. Army Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization, "Survey and Analysis Report, Second Edition," December 1996, pp. VI-1 to VI-13.
- 85 Col. John A. Como, Commanding Officer, letter to the author, June 24, 1998.
- 86 Blades interview, op.cit.
- 87 Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction (CWC), Part IV(B) of the Verification Annex, para. 15.
- 88 United States Arms Contrl and Disarmament Agency, "Primary Declaration Identification for the Submission of Initial Declarations in accordance with Articles III, VI and the Verification Annex," May 29, 1997.
- 89 "USARSO's Range Closure Plan: Empire and Piña Ranges," 23 January 1998, p. 1.
- 90 Carlos Anel Cordero, "Aprueban convenio que obligaría sanear bases," El Panamá América, July 8, 1998.
- 91 Verification Annex, Art.IV(B). 8, 9, 15.
- 92 Art. IV.11.
- 93 Verification Annex, Art.IV(B). 13, 14.
- 94 Art. IV.11.
- 95 Art. XII. 2, 4. On matters of substance, the Conference acts where possible by consensus; where consensus is not possible, the Conference acts by a two thirds majority.
- 96 Published as J. Martin Wagner and Neil A.F. Popovic, "Environment Injustice on United States Bases in Panama: International Law and the Right to Land Free from Contamination and Explosives," Virginia Journal of International Law (Vol. 38, No. 3, Spring 1998), pp. 403-506.
- 97 Agreement in Implementation of Article IV of the Panama Canal Treaty, art. IV(4).
- 98 The bases for and ramifications of these obligations are set out in much greater details in Wagner and Popovic, op.cit.
- 99 Brophy, Miles and Cochrane, op.cit., p. 105.
- 100 Report by the Joint Strategic Plans Committee, "Biological Warfare Trials at Sea," CCS 578/12, 9 Dec. 1947, in NARA, RG 165, ABC files.
- 101 U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground library, printout, June 25, 1998.
- 102 C.J. Peters, M.D. and Mark Olshaker, Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World, (New York: Anchor, 1997), pp. 65-71.
- 103 Annual Report of the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1965, p. 1; and Annual Report of the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1968, pp. 4-5. See also Grayson and Galindo, "Epidemilogic studies of VEE in Almirante, Panama," American Journal of Epidemiology, v. 88, pp. 80-96.
- 104 Harris and Paxman, op.cit., pp. 170-171.
- 105 "Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis: Report of an Outbreak Associated with Jungle Exposure," produced for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, November 1984.
- 106 Drew Fetherston and John Cummings, "CIA linked to infecting of Cuban swine," Newark Star-Ledger, January 9, 1977, p. 38. The article appeared in Newsday the same day.
- 107 Alexander Cockburn, "From Pearls...", The Nation, March 9, 1998, p. 9.
- 108 Green, op.cit., p. 2.
- 109 "Micrometeorological conditions over the sea in the neighborhood of San Jose Island, Republic of Panama"
TEST TUBE REPUBLIC: Chemical Weapons Tests in Panama and U.S. Responsibility
I. Introduction
II. Brief History of Chemical Weapons Programs in Panama
III. Storage of Chemical Agents and Munitions
IV. Chemical Weapons Tests
V. Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions
VI. Potential Long-Term Dangers Posed by Abandoned Chemical Weapons
VII. Information and Documents on Chemical Weapons: The U.S. Record
VIII. Legal Obligations
IX. Alleged development of biological agents in Panama
X. Conclusions and Recommendations
Appendices
Endnotes
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