Knowles seeks release of information on biological tests
JUNEAU - Gov. Tony Knowles has asked U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to declassify and release all information on nerve and biological testing in Alaska.
Knowles, in a letter Wednesday, also asked the Department of Defense to work with the state to investigate and clean up all sites at the Gerstle River Test Area on Fort Greely.
Fort Greely is just south of Delta Junction about 100 miles south of Fairbanks.
"This area is open to the public for subsistence gathering, hunting and recreation," Knowles said in the letter. "It is simply unacceptable to postpone or delay investigation or remediation that may be necessary."
Since the early 1990s state officials have been investigating the Gerstle River area, one of two areas used by the Army for testing. The area is state-owned but was leased to the Army from the mid-1960s to 1973.
The military last week released details of a dozen chemical and biological weapons testing programs at Fort Greely in the 1960s. The release of further information was part of an effort to identify whether soldiers who participated in the tests have developed health problems.