Clouds of Fiberglass Particles Released By Vieques War Games

By Susan Soltero

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, June 21, 2001 (ENS) - The weather is hot and hazy. For two days the U.S. Navy blamed bad weather for the postponement of the start of the latest round of bombing exercises on the Vieques Island target range off the east coast of Puerto Rico.

So far, only a few inert bombs were dropped on the eastern tip of the island Monday, the first of 1,800 inert bombs that will fall on the bombing range over the next 18 days.

"Can you imagine how much damage bombs that will be dropped from planes going 1,200 miles per hour will do to the environment? They are going to have a significant impact," says Robert Rabin, spokesman for the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques.

Today, for the first time in this round of exercises, the U.S. Navy admitted it had to suspend bombing runs over Vieques due to the presence of protesters. More than 50 people remain within the bombing range, according to the leaders of the civil disobedience movement.

Bomb crater left on Vieques from previous war games. (Photo courtesy Vieques Libre)

The U.S. Navy has increased security and built special traps for protesters within the range, so the most recent postponement is seen as a small victory by the demonstrators, a sign of good over evil. But no one is breathing a sigh of relief. In fact, what everyone may be breathing is chaff, tiny strips of fiberglass, released by pilots to hide aircraft and ships from radar.

At this time of the year, the Caribbean receives tons of dust transported across the Atlantic from Africa's Sahara Desert. People here are used to that. But what people are talking about today on the radio and in the legislature is not the amount of dust in the air - it is chaff.

Chaff is the name given to the substance used by the military in war games for over 50 years. Tons of fiberglass strands covered by aluminum or lead are dispersed by airplanes. The chaff serves two purposes: to block enemy radar from detecting ships below and to divert missiles fired towards aircraft.

Computer graphic image of chaff over the Puerto Rican island of Vieques today. (Image by Javier Ramos)

Last Thursday, after President George W. Bush announced an end to the use of Vieques by the U.S. Navy by the year 2003, a huge cloud of chaff drifted from the north on to the island of Puerto Rico.

The cloud grew from a point about 100 miles northeast of the island. The military exercises continued all night and the cloud lasted through the night as well.

In the past, the clouds of chaff have been seen frequently north or south of the island wherever the aircraft carriers are here. It is the signature the U.S. Navy leaves on radar while in territorial waters when maneuvers are being held. Occasionally, parts of the cloud might drift over the "big island" as Puerto Rico is called.

But Tuesday, for the second time in four days, a huge cloud of chaff drifted over the island, exposing many of the residents once again to the airborne particles.

Not only does chaff show up well on radar, it distorts the images of local radar images from airports and is confused with rain that may be falling at the time. Tuesday night, a tropical storm moved through, and no one saw the rain coming because the image was filled with chaff. The wave left, but the chaff did not, and the issue of chaff hit the fan.

State Senator Roberto Prats announced on Wednesday that he is making a Freedom of Information Act request to the Defense Department about the use of chaff in Puerto Rico. Specifically, he wants a confirmation by the U.S. Navy that it is being used, and he wants to know in what quantities and what type of chaff is being released. Some fiberglass particles are coated with aluminum while other are laced with lead.

Rear Admiral Kevin Green, senior naval officer in Puerto Rico (Photo courtesy U.S. Navy)

Prats discovered a document released by the General Accounting Office in 1998 in response to a request by Nevada Senator Harry Reid who was concerned over the use of chaff in Nevada. According to Prats, the report said there is no conclusive evidence that chaff is not harmful to people or the environment. The GAO report recommends that the Department of Defense develop a type of chaff that is not harmful to the environment by the year 2004.

"My concern is that the study by the GAO's office also states that a B-52 can release 11 million strands of these particles in only 30 minutes. Obviously, to create a cloud that covers over half the island, the Navy must have used enormous quantities," said Prats while calling for an immediate end of the use of chaff over the island.

"I think this basically again puts the Navy in a very uncomfortable position in Puerto Ricans' eyes. If they haven't been able to certify scientifically beyond a reasonable doubt that chaff does not cause respiratory illnesses, they should, as a matter of logic and social responsibility, immediately stop all use of chaff in Puerto Rico," Prats said.

State Senator Fernando Martin and his staff are gearing up to field phone calls. They are creating a register of people that may be suffering from respiratory problems, colds, allergies, skin rashes, and conjunctivitis as a result of the possible presence of CHAFF over the island in the last few days.

A RIM-7, NATO Sea Sparrow missile is fired from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp during a missile training exercise, August 1999 near the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Brett Dawson)

"It is widely recognized that fiberglass is a pulmonary irritant," says Jorge Fernandez Porto, environmental consultant for State Senator Martin, "and there are a series of studies that link the ingestion of aluminum with Alzheimer's disease."

"Chaff also behaves like asbestos in the lung because it can't be destroyed," said Porto. "I have noticed an increase in cases of asthma, allergies and sinusitis when the use of chaff is made public by local weathercasters. We want to officially document these cases. When toxic substances are being used, we should always assume the substance is guilty until it's proven innocent, and people should be given the benefit of the doubt."

In the past, the U.S. Navy has insisted chaff is not harmful and that they would not subject their own men to something that might harm them. But as far as the harm done by chaff is concerned, the jury is still out.