Agent Orange sprayed at Ritchie

Still trying to spin the reality of the damage done by use of chemical weapons of war and wars long lasting results!

Experts' opinions differ on risks posed by Agent Orange sprayed at Ritchie

In 1963, Agent Orange was sprayed on 108 small trees along a dirt road within Fort Ritchie, shown here Monday, using a vehicle with a mounted sprayer. The fort closed in 1998. (By Ric Dugan/Staff Photographer / February 21, 2011

February 21, 2011 - Agent Orange testing at Fort Ritchie in the 1960s was conducted under controlled conditions using a diluted version of the herbicide and posed little risk to the surrounding community then or now, according to a scientist who has studied records of the testing.

“The orange formulation was a very concentrated formulation, but you can dilute it when you put it on the vegetation, and that’s what happened at Fort Ritchie,” Alvin L. Young, an environmental toxicologist who compiled a 2006 report on testing of tactical herbicides by the U.S. Department of Defense, said Monday.

The testing at Fort Ritchie was intended to help determine the lowest concentration needed to result in defoliation, or the dropping of leaves, Young said.

“Probably we’re talking about a couple gallons of material sprayed,” he said.

Agent Orange is a blend of herbicides that the U.S. military sprayed in Vietnam to remove foliage that provided cover for its enemy, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website. It contained minute traces of a compound known as dioxin, which has been shown to cause a variety of illnesses in laboratory animals, according to the VA website.

The testing of Agent Orange at Fort Ritchie recently was brought to the attention of those leading redevelopment efforts at the former U.S. Army base near Cascade as part of a court-ordered environmental review. {continued}