Chemical, biological warfare research safety probed

Abstract

A plethora of concerns has arisen in recent months over the safety of the Pentagon's rapidly expanding program of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) research. Those involved in looking into the problems include the General Accounting Office, the Army Inspector General's office, and a Senate subcommittee chaired by Sen. Carl Levin (D.-Mich.). The Pentagon acknowledges that it has problems and claims to be moving to rectify them. The difficulties may be more severe in the biological than in the chemical area. Department of Defense funding for CBW research increased more than 400% between 1980 and 1987, climbing from about $63 million to about $334 million. The number of laboratories conducting CBW research also has expanded significantly. Today about 150 public and private laboratories located in the U.S. and in several foreign countries have contracts with DOD for such work. Sen. Levin, chairman of the Government Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, asks if DOD's ...