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The Army this week resumed its most dangerous type
of testing with disease-causing agents at western Utah's Dugway
Proving Ground, ending a 10-year hiatus. Researchers at the isolated
Baker Laboratory injected weakened or killed strains of two deadly
organisms into the air in a test chamber to see whether they could be
detected by a machine designed to ward American troops of an attack
with biological-warfare
agents. The military does not have such a machine.
Mixing biological agents with air--a process called "aerosolization"--is
risky because a tiny leak in the test equipment could allow the
organisms to escape.
Army experts claim their elaborate safety precautions will prevent
such a leak, but critics contend a serious accident is possible.
State officials and independent scientists were briefed on this test
during a public meeting April 1, 1992. They raised no objections.
Such testing was routine at Dugway until early 1983 when the Army
concluded its equipment was too old to ensure safety. The Baker
Laboratory has been renovated since then, allowing testing to resume.
Dugway officials have annouced plans to conduct several
biological-defense tests involving the aerosoliozation of
disease-causing organisms and natural toxins. The tests were supposed
to have started last year, but unexpected problems delayed testing
until this week.
Melynda J. Petrie, spokeswoman for Dugway, said scientists have
started tests of a Chemical Biological Mass Spectrometer (CBMS). This
hand-held device is designed to sound an alarm when it detects the
presence of either biological- or chemical-warfare agents.
The tests will determine whether the device can detect two dangerous
micro-organisms: Coxiella burnetii, the bacteria that causes Q fever;
and Yersinia Pestia, the bacteria that causes bubonic plague.
Ms. Petrie said the Q fever bacteria is killed prior to testing to
reduce the chance of an accident. That is done by heating it for an
hour in an autoclave. The plague bacteria is from a weakened strain
used to vaccinate humans.
The CBMS detector cannot tell the difference between the organisms
being tested and their more dangerous cousins, said Ms. Petrie.
She said some of the tests will mix the disease-causing organism with
such things as diesel fumes and the smoke from burning plants to see
whether the device is overwhelmed by chemicals that might be found on
the battlefield. |
