Military's use of fabric made with toxin questioned
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley has asked the Pentagon to explain why it continues to use camouflage fabrics recently found to contain prohibited toxins, according to a letter obtained by CNN that was dated Tuesday.
Grassley, a Republican, took on the issue last week to show support for a civilian whistle-blower who filed suit in 2003 after discovering the prohibited use of lead-based paint and other chemicals in military camouflage material that is used in tents, tarpaulins and other canvas coverings.
On Tuesday, Grassley sent a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to ask why the Pentagon hasn't ended its contract with BondCote.
"The purpose of this letter is to express grave concern and raise questions regarding allegations that a textile contractor has been using toxic substances in the production of fabric used by armed forces personnel," the Republican Grassley wrote.
The chemicals' existence in the materials used by the military is not contested. The Pentagon has said the levels of the chemicals found is too low to present a health hazard.
Lead chromate is a carcinogen. In 1977, the U.S. government banned the production of residential paints that contained lead chromate. It can still be found in industrial and commercial uses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Pentagon has continued to buy products from BondCote, the company that sold the military the materials with the banned chemicals. It has also decided not to recall the materials that are in use.
Pentagon officials said Thursday that BondCote, based in Pulaski, Virginia, has stopped using lead chromate, which was mixed into the pigments used to create the familiar camouflage pattern seen on tents the U.S. military uses around the world.
Grassley's office is investigating the circumstances of the Pentagon's continued business with the firm.
"We've looked at Army regulations, and it specifically states there are no toxins allowed in textile fabrics," an aide to Grassley said last week.
Grassley decided to help raise awareness of the issue, which first came to light when a Georgia businessman filed suit last year.
Keith Ayers of Tallapoosa, Georgia, bought a company that had supplied the pigments to BondCote and then discovered that they contained lead chromate.
Ayers stands to claim a percentage of any monetary settlement under a law known as the False Claims Act, which allows people to sue contractors for defrauding the government.
On Monday, an attorney for Ayers filed a petition to block a proposed settlement of the case.
In a statement, BondCote said the chemicals in question exist in its products in a form that cannot pose a health hazard, and that testing has proved its products are safe.
Last week, Defense Department spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers told CNN the levels of the substance found do not pose a health risk.
Shavers acknowledged it could not be learned what percentage of the contaminated material may still be in use. Shavers was unaware of any plans to test, recall and replace the items containing the questionable fabric.
He said BondCote supplies about 70 percent of the pigmented cloth that is later manufactured into finished camouflage material used by the Defense Department.
A federal investigator, in an affidavit, said the government believed senior BondCote officials were aware of the prohibited use, and tried "to withhold this information from the government."
Should authorities prove a cover-up, Grassley said in his letter to Rumsfeld, BondCote should be prohibited from doing business with the Pentagon.
Grassley also urged Rumsfeld to consider "a recall of tainted materials that have been distributed to the military and the public."
The substance was said to have been used in an attempt to meet the military's specification that paint must reduce or block infrared light that could reflect from the material and aid the enemy, an Army spokesman said.
The military's performance specifications, which have been tightened in recent years, prohibited the use of lead chromate at the time the substance was found.
"Because of its toxicity and health hazard, DoD contractors are strictly prohibited from using lead chromate in fabrics and materials produced for the U.S. military," according to a federal search warrant executed in May 2003 at BondCote's Virginia production facilities.
