The story, courtesy CBC:
White said he was told at the time what the barrels contained. Experts and activists who have followed the case — and who fought the federal government for compensation for military personnel and civilians affected by defoliant spraying at Gagetown — said White’s statement is the first eyewitness account they’ve heard of the base disposing of stocks of Agent Orange.
“This is quite an interesting development from my perspective,” said Wayne Dwernychuk, a expert who spent over 15 years studying Agent Orange contamination and its effects on combatants during the war in Vietnam.
Much of the public controversy in New Brunswick over a dozen years ago related to the secret spraying program. Agent Orange was sprayed at CFB Gagetown in 1966 and 1967 by the U.S. military, with permission from Canada.
It’s now known that exposure can lead to skin disorders, liver problems and certain types of cancers. The Canadian government set aside almost $100 million in 2007 for Canadians harmed by defoliants at the base. In 2011, Ottawa also reversed a decision to reject compensation for dozens of soldiers and their families exposed to the defoliant who later became ill.
What makes White’s account remarkable, Dwernychuk said, is that it’s the first hint of an answer to a nagging question about the Gagetown spraying program: do we know what happened to all of the leftover defoliant?
Apparently, we don’t. And the DND don’t want us to know, either. Probably because that would lead to an inquiry, which would lead to renewed calls for the US to come up and clean up its leftover shit. And given how they’re still ignoring the Canadians who served as unwitting guinea pigs for MKULTRA, it’s gonna be a cold day in Hades before that happens…especially with a belligerent ignoramus like the current squatter in the White House. Even our own government keeps refusing to acknowledge those people, let alone compensate them for their suffering.