DHS Spraying Town with Chemicals – Using Residents as Guinea Pigs | Hacker News Reader

DHS Spraying Town with Chemicals – Using Residents as Guinea Pigs

dhs.gov

2 pointsielfkd4 comments

Title came from here.

http://humansarefree.com/2017/12/dhs-spraying-town-with-chem...

Holy deceptive title Batman!

...that will include low level outdoor release of inert chemical and biological simulant materials at the Chilocco (former) Indian School Campus outside of Newkirk, Oklahoma, during winter 2018 and again in summer 2018. The study is part of the Department’s ongoing commitment to preparedness and the shared responsibility of protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to gather data that enhances our predictive capabilities in the event of a biological agent attack.

Actual title: Draft Environmental Assessment for Proposed Outdoor Testing at Chilocco

Yea that title is just absurd. DHS wants to release an inert gas to see how it flows through the environment and how it is absorbed into things around the town.

I think your summary is wrong in at least three points.

#1: Not a gas. There are two types of inert solid particles in that proposal, to be released as an aerosol:

> Alternative Inert Particle 1 would utilize titanium dioxide (TiO2), a white odorless powder that is chemically insoluble in water, nonreactive, nonflammable, and nonhazardous. This material is not regulated or defined as a toxic or hazardous material. Alternative Inert Particle 2 is a 90:10% mixture of urea powder with CL Fluorescent Brightener 220. Urea serves an important role in the metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds by animals and is the main nitrogen-containing substance in the urine of mammals. CL Fluorescent Brightener 220 is a finishing reagent in textiles, and up to 2% by weight in laundry detergents

and then there's the active biologic material:

> Alternative Biological Particulate 1 would employ the use of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp kurstaki (Btk) barcoded spores ..

> Alternative Biological Particulate 2 would utilize native Btk, without barcoding ...

> Alternative Biological Particulate 3 would employ a tagged, inert, fluorescent particle known as DNATrax. The safety of DNATrax particles cannot be assumed, therefore, its use presented unknown risks not conducive to testing objectives.

#2: "Around a town" should be "around an abandoned town." Without that adjective, it sounds like it will be done in an inhabited area.

> The proposed project location is the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, which is located adjacent to the intersection of U.S. Highway 77 and EOO18 Road, approximately 7 miles north of the town of Newkirk, OK and approximately 6 miles south of Arkansas City, KS. ... a unique infrastructure that includes an abandoned town (Chilocco Campus: with over 30 buildings) ... The nearest residential home is located more than 0.6-mile (1km) north of the closest potential release area. The nearest public buildings are a casino and a gas station located 1.4 mile (2.3km) south east of the closest release area.

#3: They will not be testing how things are absorbed in materials. The goal is to detect those particles, using devices like: "portable real time particle counters (RTPs), dry filter cassettes, (DFUs), personnel cascade impactors, biological impactors, high volume aerosol samplers (HVAS), and real time fluorescent particle counters, Instantaneous Bioaerosol Analyzer and Collector (IBAC) units."

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