Our military secretly sprayed experimental, possibly radioactive chemicals in minority and low-income communities in St. Louis during the 1960s to see what would happen, KSDK in St. Louis reports:
Lisa Martino-Taylor is a sociologist whose life’s work has been to uncover details of the Army’s ultra-secret military experiments carried out in St. Louis and other cities during the 1950s and 60s.
[KSDK] verified that the spraying of zinc cadmium sulfide did take place in St. Louis on thousands of unsuspecting citizens. What is unclear is whether the Army added a radioactive material to the compound as Martino-Taylor’s research implies.
Army archive pictures show how the tests were done in Corpus Christi, Texas in the 1960s. In Texas, planes were used to drop the chemical. But in St. Louis, the Army placed chemical sprayers on buildings and station wagons. Documents confirmed that city officials were kept in the dark about the tests. The Cold War cover story was that the Army was testing smoke screens to protect cities from a Russian attack.
By making hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests, Martino-Taylor uncovered once-classified documents that confirm the spraying of zinc cadmium sulfide. “This was a violation of all medical ethics, all international codes, and the military’s own policy at that time,” said Martino-Taylor.
In 1994, then-Congressman Richard Gephardt (D-St. Louis), asked the Army to open its records and explain the St. Louis testing. Documents released in the 90s showed the Army placed sprayers on a former Knights of Columbus building on Lindell and in Forest Park.
While the Army admits it added a florescent substance to the zinc cadmium compound, details of whether it was radioactive remains secret.Documents uncovered to date indicate the Army never conducted follow-up studies to see whether the compound caused long term health issues.
