Chip Ward, an environmental activist from
Grantsville, Utah, started the West Desert Healthy Environment
Alliance (HEAL) because citizens noticed abnormally high rates of
illness in town. But when the group approached the state Bureau of
Epidemiology for information, the agency said that though cancer
rates were high, its research showed no discernible pattern among
the town’s sick. Not satisfied, Ward’s group decided to go door to
door and conduct its own survey. Where the state bureau determined
that 237 people had cancer, HEAL found 201 cases after surveying
only half of the town. Of the cancer patients, 80 percent have been
long-time residents. The group’s survey also reported 187 serious
respiratory problems and 29 birth defects. The culprit, Ward
speculates, is the pollutants residents have been exposed to years
of atomic, military, radiation and nerve gas testing. Grantsville
is home to Dugway Proving Grounds, which routinely blows up
munitions, and Tooele Army Depot, which holds the country’s largest
stockpile of chemical weapons. HEAL has called for a comprehensive
health study, a moratorium on new emissions, better air monitoring,
and the opening up of all military records. For more information,
call Chip Ward at 800/662-9150.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Healing a dirty town.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
