Agent Orange Found At Ft. Detrick

Agent Orange Found At Ft. Detrick

FREDERICK, Md. (WUSA) -- Agent Orange may be causing cancer in hundreds of people living near Fort Detrick. That's according to evidence uncovered by an organization representing those families.

Ft. Detrick has admitted that the Army tested Agent Orange on base. But it's been decades and officials say they don't have information about exactly how much was used and where.

The Kristin Renee Foundation's Fighting for Frederick project, hired its own investigators and scientists. They say they've found evidence of Agent Orange -- the chemical they believe is partly responsible for a cancer cluster in Frederick, Maryland.

Randy White lost his daughter Kristen Renee to brain cancer two years ago.

"She died in my arms," White says.

Angie Pieper recently fought ovarian tumors

"I believe there was toxins put into our water, ground, our air," Pieper says.

In fact, the organization's private tests uncovered trace amounts of Agent Orange in the air and the soil.

The herbicide is well known for its use in the Vietnam War.
It was sprayed to kill greenery, so soldiers could see the enemy from the air. It was later learned that Agent Orange caused cancer and birth defects.

White says their investigators learned that Agent Orange was sprayed from planes and from a truck driven through fields.

Not the story from officials at the fort. Chuck Gordon with Ft. Detrick says they have not found evidence to confirm that, but he says Agent Orange may have been used in controlled settings inside greenhouses.

Recently, Ft. Detrick completed a project to fix chemicals leaking from landfills into groundwater.

White says that wasn't the whole problem. He says he has also hired a team of lawyers and is threatening to sue. White has also called for the resignation of officials with knowledge of Agent Orange at Ft. Detrick.

Written by Lindsey Mastis
9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com