- A former British defence worker has won legal aid to
sue the giant US military corporation Honeywell over claims that he was
poisoned by depleted uranium while working at its Somerset factory.
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- The case is likely to have far-reaching implications
for Gulf war veterans, aerospace workers and civilians living in former
war zones.
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- Richard 'Nibby' David, 49, suffers from serious
respiratory
problems, kidney defects and finds it extremely painful to move his limbs.
Medical tests have revealed mutations to his DNA and damage to his
chromosomes
which he alleges has been caused by depleted uranium poisoning (DU), a
radioactive waste product from the nuclear power industry that is used
for shells because it can smash through tank armour.
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- Millions of tonnes of DU shells have been fired by US
and British forces in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. It has also been used
as ballast in aircraft and counterweights on helicopter blades. While it
is believed to be relatively harmless lying in the soil, a growing body
of scientists believe that when its fine dust is inhaled it can cause a
range of cancers, kidney damage and birth defects.
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- It has been alleged that DU used in the 1991 Gulf war
was responsible for abnormally high levels of childhood leukaemia and birth
defects in Iraq. France, Spain and Italy claim soldiers who served in
Bosnia
and Kosovo, where Nato used DU shells, have contracted cancers. It is also
believed to be a possible cause of Gulf war syndrome, which has left
thousand
of veterans with mysterious health problems.
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- While the defence and nuclear industries have played
down the danger of DU, David's case is the first time that the arguments
will be heard before a court. Should he win, the verdict will send
shockwaves
through the military establishment as it could pave the way for huge
compensation
claims against the armed forces. He also believes that dozens of his fellow
workers at the Honeywell site in Yeovil have also suffered. A number of
his closest colleagues have died or contracted liver cancers.
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- Although the Legal Aid Board does not back personal
injury
claims, it decided that David's case was in the 'wider public interest'.
The decision was a major victory after an eight-year struggle for justice
after ill health forced him to give up his job in 1995 as a component
fitter
for Normalair Garrett, the Yeovil firm now owned by Honeywell, which makes
parts for most of the world's fighter planes and bombers.
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- After being struck down by a disorder that left him
paralysed
with pain and unable to breathe properly, David began looking for clues
as to the cause. The breakthrough came in September 1995 while watching
a news bulletin on Gulf war syndrome on which he saw how a UK army major
struggled to get out of her car.
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- 'I was in unbearable pain and unable to move. I thought
I was going to die,' he said. 'But when I saw this woman major trying to
move and saw the intense pain in her eyes I immediately knew she was
suffering
like me.'
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- David had never been in the armed forces or the Middle
East, but was convinced there was a link between his illness and those
suffered by former Gulf troops. But it was not until February 1999 that
the possibility that DU was the cause came when he heard a talk by US
scientist
Dr Asaf Durakovic, a former military doctor and nuclear medicine expert.
Durakovic suggested that the debilitating, in some cases fatal, illnesses
suffered by Gulf veterans were not necessarily caused by a cocktail of
vaccines, as some claimed, but by DU poisoning.
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- Durakovic decided to test the urine samples of 15 UK
Gulf veterans and agreed to include David's. Six months later, the results
showed that he had one of the highest levels of uranium contamination out
of all the samples.
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- 'It was unbelievable,' said David. 'I didn't know whether
to laugh or cry. On one hand it gave an answer to why I was suffering,
but also the knowledge I would never recover. Above all I was confused.
How could I have been contaminated in England?'
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- The answer was not long in coming. DU is a man-made
material
and experts told him that the most likely route of his contamination was
his workplace. David decided to sue Honeywell Aerospace, but without being
able to pay for lawyers it was impossible to collect evidence. But now
he has been awarded legal aid he hopes to be represented by barrister
Michael
Mansfield QC and intends to call a stream of world experts to back his
claim.
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- One is Malcolm Hooper, emeritus professor of medicinal
chemistry and chief scientific adviser to the Gulf Veterans'
Association.
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- 'This case will be highly significant not only for
soldiers
but for many others. We know of cases where firemen have had to deal with
fires caused by burning DU at factories and prison officers have also been
contaminated by inhaling fumes. I am in no doubt that inhaling DU has the
potential to cause a great deal of damage.'
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- Honeywell has declined to comment on details of the case,
but will claim it never used DU at Yeovil. However, it is known that
another
aerospace group, Westland, which shared the Somerset site, has admitted
using DU from 1966 until 1982 as counterweights for helicopter blades.
David also claims Honeywell used special heavy metal alloys for making
components which he believes may have contained DU.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,1258752,00.html
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