Depleted Uranium Education Project
39 W. 14th St. #206, NY, NY 10011
Ph:(212) 633-6646, Fx: 633-2889
email: iacenter@iacenter.org
http://www.iacenter.org


For Immediate Attention: Press Contacts:(212) 633-6646
March 28, 1997 Sara Flounders, Frank Alexander

End Gulf War Syndrome Cover-Up
Investigate Depleted Uranium Weapons

The Depleted Uranium Education Project demands that a complete and
independent investigation into the toxicological and radiological effects of
the use of depleted uranium weapons during the Persian Gulf War begin
immediately. Without an independent investigation, the effects of these
weapons will never be known.

A March 25th article in the NYT entitled "Danger From Uranium Waste Grows As
Government Considers Its Fate" investigates the storage of DU waste in
Piketon, Ohio. According to the article, the cylinders which contain
depleted uranium are filled with a poisonous radioactive uranium
compound, the leftover of years of uranium processing for nuclear
bombs, submarine propulsion reactors and civilian power plants.
Every time one leaks, as several have, it releases puffs of toxic gas
and uranium that can end up in the groundwater. In about two months
the energy Department is supposed to issue a draft
environmental-impact statement listing options for what to do with
the material, including converting the compound into forms that are
less toxic and less prone to spread.

This "poisonous radioactive uranium" compound has been recycled into the
production of millions of rounds of large and small calibre weapons. Firing
this waste on battefields and testing ranges throughout the world does not
convert it into a compound which is less prone to spread.

These weapons were used for the first time in combat history during the Gulf
War. Their widespread use has never before been monitored. More than
14,000 large calibre rounds(105mm and 120mm) and over 940,000 small calibre
rounds (25mm and 30mm) were fired in Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield,
scattering between 300 and 800 tons of depleted uranium waste throughout the
Persian Gulf. According to Sara Flounders of the International Action
Center, "More than 100,000 United States GIs have symptoms of what is being
called, for lack of a better term, Gulf War Syndrome. Thousands of cases of
bizarre and previously unknown diseases, high rates of birth defects and
deformities, cancers and leukemias are being documented throughout the
Persian Gulf region. The effect of these radiological weapons must be
investigated."

The people suffering from the consequences of the use of these weapons must
receive medical attention immediately. The Depleted Uranium Education
Project calls on all individuals, organizations and members of the press to
raise the level of awareness regarding the use of these weapons. The
International Action Center has published a book entitled, METAL OF
DISHONOR--How the Pentagon radiates soldiers and civilians with Depleted
Uranium weapons as a contribution to the struggle to eliminate the scourge of
DU weapons. It will be available from the International Action Center by
mid-April and can be ordered from the above number.

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