Where Did All That Agent Orange Come From

For those of us that have been around the Association for a few years, weve all run across situations of no evidence provided by DOD, etcetc.. to the point it is so frustrating. You catch yourselves buried deeply in claims work knowing situations happened, herbicides were used, only to be slapped with a denial letter along the way. Chain of custody on procurement of AO and various herbicides seem to be non-existent within DOD records. But here is a little known piece of publicity that sheds more light on how all that Agent Orange ended up in the supply system to begin with. http://www.bhopal.net/worldmap/new_zealand_more.html Welcome to New Plymouth's lvon Watkins Dow chemical factory in an island area of New Zealand. You may be surprised to learn they used to make Agent Orange - 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D - were shipped from the Taranaki wharves in the 1960s to the American base at Subic Bay in the Philippines for use in the Vietnam War. Home of Naval Supply Depot Subic Bay, the largest supply facility in the Pacific. http://www.nsd.e-webbies.com/history/38-history/51-history-of-the-naval-supply-depot-subicbay What makes this significant is that Blue Water Navy ships and aircraft would be utilized to transport AO to its final destination. Naval Station Subic Bay had several piers ships could moor to, the largest being Alava Pier where aircraft carriers frequently visited having ready access to large cranes Pier-side to easily onload and offload cargo. There were additional piers adjacent to the Naval Supply Depot and Ship Repair Facility as well. The Leyte Pier was across the bay on the Naval Air Station Cubi Point side with the same capabilities as Alava Pier. Additional piers could be found at The Fuel Farm just down from Naval Supply Depot and the Naval Magazine Cubi Point area. Frequently aircraft from Clark AB would arrive at NAS Cubi Point and take on cargo for further destinations. Based upon supply requisitions generated by various commanders throughout the world, key card punch operators would cut the IBM cards and deliver them to communications facilities for transmission.

At the end of a 90 day period the telecommunications facilities (NTCC Subic Bay) would burn or shred the cards. Hence, no local logistic records available. During 80-85 incoming supply requisitions were recorded on large reels of magnetic tapes and turned over to the Supply Depot. Those used for transmitting data were run over a degausser and stripped of any intelligible data after 90 days. The disc packs on the DST-9000 computer system at NTCC Subic were frequently reformatted and reutilized on a rotating basis. All paper copies were destroyed after 90 days. Leading to no records available in DOD communication facilities. Supply requisitions commonly were processed through DAAS Dayton OH

Accession Number : ADA279358 Title : DAAS: Defense Automatic Addressing System. Corporate Author : ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (MANPOWER INSTALLATIONS AND LOGISTICS) WASHINGTON DC PDF Url : ADA279358 Report Date : APR 1985 Pagination or Media Count : 93 Abstract : The DAAS manual prescribes the concepts, rules, and procedures for the transmission of computer readable logistic documents to and from the DAAS sites at Dayton, Ohio and Tracy, California. It provides policy and establishes procedures for use and operation of the Defense Automatic Addressing System (DAAS) and International Logistics Communications System Office (DAASO) at Gentile Air Force Station (AFS) in Dayton, Ohio. The DAASO maintains computer facilities at Gentile AFS and at its Western Division in the Defense Depot at Tracy, California. The DAASO is a Management Support Activity (MSA) of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) at Cameron Station, Alexandria, Virginia. Administration of the DAAS and ILCS is performed by the AIS Development and Control Division, Office of Telecommunications and Information Systems (DLA-Zs) under the direction of the Director, DLA. ILCS procedures are detailed in Chapter 6. DAAS is designed to function as a service organization by proving its subscribers with ready access to the DAAS telecommunications/Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and programming capabilities

Descriptors : *DATA BASES, *MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS, *DATA TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS, *MESSAGE PROCESSING, USER MANUALS, CARDS, LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT, OHIO, FORMATS, CALIFORNIA Subject Categories : Information Science Computer Systems Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
http://knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?title=Dow%27s_Nasty_Little_Secret&oldid=2914
'Agent Orange was made from two chemicals," our source (former New Zealand Transport Safety

Minister and New Plymouth MP Harry Duynhoven revealed in 2005)

explained in an exclusive interview, "2,4-D and 2,4,5,T. When they're apart, they're herbicides. Mixed together, they become Agent Orange. Now at this time, in the late 1960s and early seventies, the Government had given IWD the exclusive licence to manufacture those chemicals. We made all of the 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T that was produced in New Zealand. No one else was allowed to. Technically, we shipped the chemicals unmixed, so technically they weren't Agent Orange until somebody mixed them at the final destination." IWD's role in manufacturing the deadly herbicide resulted from a US approach to the New Zealand Government, and the Defence Ministry had sounded out whether IWD could provide 500,000 gallons of it, quickly. Although news of the plan later leaked out, the National Government tried to distance itself and the impression was left that the Agent Orange deal never went ahead. Given that official US reports record that around 9 million gallons of Agent Orange were dumped on Vietnam, the size of the NZ contract was reasonably substantial.

Because of international health concerns 2,4,5-T production was halted around the world - with the exception of one factory, the Ivon Watkins Dow Plant in New Plymouth which persevered until 1987. And now you know.