May 23, 2000
Details have just emerged about a bizarre set of Army experiments in which live animals were bombed and gassed with chemical weapons just outside Dugway Proving Ground.
It happened more than 50 years ago.
Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst has the exclusive story.
The Army apparently did the experiment on private land and left potentially dangerous materials lying around. Lately, the property owners have been poking through the records and demanding compensation.
A long way out into the west desert,
along the old Pony Express Trail,
you find the Dugway Mountains.
To the north-- Dugway Proving Ground-- barely visible in the distance.
Mining geologist Dick Klatt says this barren land was scoured by miners in the 1800's. They dug hundreds of tunnels and shafts and pulled out more than 10,000 tons of ore.
DICK KLATT/MINING GEOLOGIST: "PRETTY HIGH GRADE, UMM, HMM, TO SUPPORT THE COST OF FREIGHTING IT BY WAGON TO THE NEAREST SMELTER."
In 1945, the Army used these abandoned mines in a bizarre experiment.
It was to help win the bloody and intense war underway in the Pacific.
Japanese soldiers were hiding out in heavily fortified tunnels and caves on Pacific islands.
In the Dugway Mountains, Project Sphinx began. It's detailed in recently unclassified documents, with very poor quality photos. One shows a goat, lying flat, overcome by fumes from an explosion.
DICK KLATT/MINING GEOLOGIST: "AND HERE ARE THE BOMB CRATERS."
Aerial photos today reveal dozens of craters.
From Chopper Five, they're easily spotted.
Some craters are 20 to 30 feet across.
According to the documents, the Army placed hundreds of goats, rabbits and chickens in and around mine shafts. The animals were subjected to barrages of bombs and artillery fire, sometimes with chemical agents such as mustard and phosgene gas.
LOUISE CANNON/PROPERTY OWNER: "AND IN SOME OF THE REPORTS, THEY HAD GOATS THAT THEY HAD COMPLETELY BURNED THEIR HIDE OFF, AND THEIR SKIN. AND THEY JUST WAITED TO SEE HOW LONG IT TOOK THEM TO DIE."
Louise Cannon and her brother inherited most of the land from their grandfather, and
they've spent five years and $50,000 fighting the Army with lawyers. Louise Cannon says she once asked the Army why they used her family's land.
LOUISE CANNON/PROPERTY OWNER: "THEY SAID, 'WELL, YOU HAD THE TUNNELS.. I SAID, 'YOU HAD THE ARMY! DIG YOUR OWN!'"
The Cannons say the land is devalued because the Army never cleaned up. Shrapnel is commonplace.
Just a few years ago, Klatt found an unexploded munition.
"HERE'S THE ROCKET, HERE'S A SIDEVIEW.... AND THE MILITARY CAME OUT AND BLEW IT UP. AND IT WAS LIVE, IT WASN'T A DUMMY."
Louise Cannon says future mining might be discouraged by the hazards on the ground. And, perhaps, under the ground.
LOUISE CANNON/PROPERTY OWNER: "THERE WERE OTHER ANIMALS THAT ARE DOWN DEEPER IN THE TUNNELS, AND THOSE, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, THEY NEVER WENT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED." HOLLENHORST: "BECAUSE?" LOUISE CANNON: "BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO DANGEROUS TO GO IN THERE. THE GAS WAS LOOSE."
Government lawyers refused comment, but in court papers they say there was a valid lease from the Cannon's grandfather. His heirs say the lease only permitted survey activity.
Another issue is whether the property has significant value, with or without the hazards.
The Cannons have proposed a mediation session June 9th. The government hasn't responded.
