Decision on Sanchez v. United States expected within months
By H. Nelson Goodson
February 1, 2010
San Juan, Puerto Rico - Last March, a federal lawsuit filed by 7,125 plaintiff's was transferred to San Juan's U.S. District Court from Washington D.C. The lawsuit is restricted to only Vieques residents. (Sanchez v. United States, No.:1:07-cv-01573-RMC)
The plaintiff's are claiming that their sickness resulted from years of harzadous airborne chemical testing, and toxins attributed to six decades of constant shelling Vieques island which was used by the U.S. Navy as a target practice range. The Navy dropped tons of exploded munitions, lead contamination, mercury and accumulated toxic waste before leaving the island in 2003. The U.S. Navy and its allies, used Vieques island in Puerto Rico as a chemical and arms testing site shortly after World War II to 2003. Vieques island is considered as one of the most toxic waste dumping areas in the world.
The Pentagon in 2005 became involved in cleaning up the environment at Vieques. The government also began to clear thousands of unexploded munitions from the former Camp Garcia site, which is now a Fish and Wildlife Service refuge.
The Pentagon declassified Project 112, a program that tested chemical and biological agents. Even, aerosol spray containing chemicals were used on animals to kill goats, as well as experiments with napalm, depleted uranium (low radiation) and agent orange, and the millions of pounds of ordnance (ammunition/bombs) that Navy aircraft and ships dropped annually on Vieques, according to Hermogenes Marrero, 57, a former U.S. Marine sergeant stationed as a security guard at Camp Garcia, a Navy base in Vieques.
Marrero is a key witness in the federal case, and gave a deposition in Sept. 2009. A federal judge is expected to render a decision on the Sanchez v. United States case within months. The judge will decide, if the U.S. government is responsible for the toxic contamination of Vieques, did chemicals and toxins caused illness to related health epidemic to islanders, and should the government be held accountable in providing compensation for medical treatment and damages to over seven thousand plaintiff's seeking restitution. The Vieques case could result as a landmark decision for the thousands of U.S. Citizens (Puertoricans) that were affected by the toxic poisoning at Camp Garcia.
Marrero says, he's been sick ever since. Today, he is nearly
blind, needs an oxygen tank, has Lou Gehrig's disease and crippling back problems, and sometimes needs a wheelchair. "I'd go out to the firing range, and sometimes I'd start bleeding automatically from my nose," he said in an interview aired on Monday night's CNN "Campbell Brown."
"The effects of those chemicals could include cancer, damage to the nervous, immune and reproductive systems or birth defects," said Dr. John Wargo on CNN, a Yale professor who studies the effects of toxic exposures on human health.
The multi-billion lawsuit was first filed in 2007 in Washington D.C. to seek compensation for the thousands of people affected by the contaminated island environment. "The people need the truth to understand what is happening to their bodies," said John Arthur Eaves Jr., the Mississippi attorney representing the Vieques residents.
By 2001, medical studies in Puerto Rico showed that residents of Vieques suffered from cancer of the breast, cervix and uterus, which had increased by 300% since, the Navy began testing chemicals at the island.
One of the plaintiff's whom the suit seeks to recover damages include the family of Milivy Adams. Milivy was only two years old when her first tumor was removed from her head. Doctors discovered other tumors on her kidney, left hand, left leg, and shoulders. Sadly, Milivy succomed to her lymphoma at the age of five. ("Vieques Women Claim Navy's Toxins Destroyed Health". WeNews 2001-03-08.)
"Sgt. Marrero's testimony really lets me know how much more investigation and research is needed in order to establish what was dropped on the island and what needs to be done to remedy that, so people on the island can start to rebuild their lives," Eaves said.
The Pentagon, Navy officials, and including the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys defending the government declined CNN's invitation for an interview. The U.S. government's response to the Vieques residents lawsuit was to invoke sovereign immunity, arguing that residents have no right to sue it. Residents born in Puerto Rico are U.S. Citizens.
The government also disputes that the Navy's activities on Vieques made its residents sick citing a 2003 study by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention that found no link.
Although, numerous scientists have criticised the study forcing CDC to re-investigate Vieques contaminated environment and its affect to the residents.
Scientific studies have discovered a link between the widespread contamination, which resulted from heavy metals, toxins, and other contaminates which bioaccumulated over the years, and a significantly higher rate of cancer, hypertension, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, low birth rate, and infant mortality on the Island. ("Cancer surge on bomb island", BBC News, 2001-02-04.)
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By H. Nelson Goodson
February 1, 2010
San Juan, Puerto Rico - Last March, a federal lawsuit filed by 7,125 plaintiff's was transferred to San Juan's U.S. District Court from Washington D.C. The lawsuit is restricted to only Vieques residents. (Sanchez v. United States, No.:1:07-cv-01573-RMC)
The plaintiff's are claiming that their sickness resulted from years of harzadous airborne chemical testing, and toxins attributed to six decades of constant shelling Vieques island which was used by the U.S. Navy as a target practice range. The Navy dropped tons of exploded munitions, lead contamination, mercury and accumulated toxic waste before leaving the island in 2003. The U.S. Navy and its allies, used Vieques island in Puerto Rico as a chemical and arms testing site shortly after World War II to 2003. Vieques island is considered as one of the most toxic waste dumping areas in the world.
The Pentagon in 2005 became involved in cleaning up the environment at Vieques. The government also began to clear thousands of unexploded munitions from the former Camp Garcia site, which is now a Fish and Wildlife Service refuge.
The Pentagon declassified Project 112, a program that tested chemical and biological agents. Even, aerosol spray containing chemicals were used on animals to kill goats, as well as experiments with napalm, depleted uranium (low radiation) and agent orange, and the millions of pounds of ordnance (ammunition/bombs) that Navy aircraft and ships dropped annually on Vieques, according to Hermogenes Marrero, 57, a former U.S. Marine sergeant stationed as a security guard at Camp Garcia, a Navy base in Vieques.
Marrero is a key witness in the federal case, and gave a deposition in Sept. 2009. A federal judge is expected to render a decision on the Sanchez v. United States case within months. The judge will decide, if the U.S. government is responsible for the toxic contamination of Vieques, did chemicals and toxins caused illness to related health epidemic to islanders, and should the government be held accountable in providing compensation for medical treatment and damages to over seven thousand plaintiff's seeking restitution. The Vieques case could result as a landmark decision for the thousands of U.S. Citizens (Puertoricans) that were affected by the toxic poisoning at Camp Garcia.
Marrero says, he's been sick ever since. Today, he is nearly
blind, needs an oxygen tank, has Lou Gehrig's disease and crippling back problems, and sometimes needs a wheelchair. "I'd go out to the firing range, and sometimes I'd start bleeding automatically from my nose," he said in an interview aired on Monday night's CNN "Campbell Brown."
"The effects of those chemicals could include cancer, damage to the nervous, immune and reproductive systems or birth defects," said Dr. John Wargo on CNN, a Yale professor who studies the effects of toxic exposures on human health.
The multi-billion lawsuit was first filed in 2007 in Washington D.C. to seek compensation for the thousands of people affected by the contaminated island environment. "The people need the truth to understand what is happening to their bodies," said John Arthur Eaves Jr., the Mississippi attorney representing the Vieques residents.
By 2001, medical studies in Puerto Rico showed that residents of Vieques suffered from cancer of the breast, cervix and uterus, which had increased by 300% since, the Navy began testing chemicals at the island.
One of the plaintiff's whom the suit seeks to recover damages include the family of Milivy Adams. Milivy was only two years old when her first tumor was removed from her head. Doctors discovered other tumors on her kidney, left hand, left leg, and shoulders. Sadly, Milivy succomed to her lymphoma at the age of five. ("Vieques Women Claim Navy's Toxins Destroyed Health". WeNews 2001-03-08.)
"Sgt. Marrero's testimony really lets me know how much more investigation and research is needed in order to establish what was dropped on the island and what needs to be done to remedy that, so people on the island can start to rebuild their lives," Eaves said.
The Pentagon, Navy officials, and including the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys defending the government declined CNN's invitation for an interview. The U.S. government's response to the Vieques residents lawsuit was to invoke sovereign immunity, arguing that residents have no right to sue it. Residents born in Puerto Rico are U.S. Citizens.
The government also disputes that the Navy's activities on Vieques made its residents sick citing a 2003 study by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention that found no link.
Although, numerous scientists have criticised the study forcing CDC to re-investigate Vieques contaminated environment and its affect to the residents.
Scientific studies have discovered a link between the widespread contamination, which resulted from heavy metals, toxins, and other contaminates which bioaccumulated over the years, and a significantly higher rate of cancer, hypertension, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, low birth rate, and infant mortality on the Island. ("Cancer surge on bomb island", BBC News, 2001-02-04.)
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