Covert chemical warfare/and a time bomb in Ukraine

Jon Rappoport
Activist Post

In the entirely justified blow-up over the poisonous effects of Monsanto’s Roundup, recent history has been pushed to the side.

There are, of course, other companies and other poisons (herbicides, pesticides).

For example, read this from “Transport and Trade,” published by the Pesticide Action Network: “…US [companies] shipped nearly 1.7 billion pounds of pesticide products to other countries from 2001-2003…

“more than 32 tons per hour…

“Nearly 28 million pounds of these pesticides are banned for use in the US.”

Consider this broad 1997 indictment: “…large international corporations are able to sell pesticides abroad that cannot be sold in the U.S. These corporations sell pesticides that are classified as so harmful to human health and the environment, that their use cannot be justified for any purpose.” (Jefferson D Reynolds, Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law, “International Pesticide Trade”)

A case in point: Propargite. Writing in the Albion Monitor (May 5, 1996, “US Firm Exports Hazardous Pesticide”), Haider Rizvi describes the chemical as “a widely used pesticide for control of mites on a range of fruit, grain, vegetable, nut and fiber crops.”

Here are quotes from the Monitor article:

“The US-based Uniroyal Corp. will continue selling a hazardous pesticide to farmers overseas even though the product has been withdrawn from domestic markets for ‘health and safety reasons.’”

“In a recent agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the company canceled nearly a dozen uses of the pesticide Propargite in the United States. But, the accord does not affect sales of the suspected carcinogen in other countries.”

“Its recent agreement with EPA prohibits Uniroyal from selling propargite for use on nearly a dozen [US] crops — including apricots, apples, peaches, pears, plums, figs, strawberries, and green beans — because of its cancer-causing potential.”

“Both independent and EPA scientists say infants and children are especially vulnerable to the potential dangers of exposure to Propargite-treated food products, which include damage to the nervous system, as well as cancer.”

Here’s the capper:

“Despite banning a dozen uses, the EPA-Uniroyal agreement still allows the company to continue production and distribution of Propargite for use on nearly 30 other [US] crops, including grapes, cotton, grapes, watermelon, and potatoes.”

And remember, along with destruction wreaked on people in countries to which the US exports these chemicals, the food grown and sprayed in those countries is shipped back to the US for sale. This route was called “the circle of poison.” That phrase has dropped out of popular usage.

Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, Bayer, and other mega-corporations don’t let up. They continue in the tradition of the infamous IG Farben—chemicals for destruction.

In 2009, I researched the problem of pesticides in the Ukraine. Use is not the only issue; so is storage. And the scope and danger are huge.

Tamara Gurzhiy, “Expired and prohibited pesticides problem in Ukraine,” Independent Agency for Ecological Information, Kharkiv, Ukraine (English translation):

“Twenty thousand to 25,000 t [tons] of expired or prohibited pesticides are stored on 4,000 Ukrainian depots. This is a serious threat for people and environment. Arsenic compounds are highly toxic for cattle. Death comes within several hours…Majority of pesticide depots were not designed for long-term usage. Chemicals are stolen and illegally sold to people. Depots’ roofs collapsed over the time, pesticides’ wrapping gets [out of] of order, pesticides of different nature may become [a] catalyst of spontaneous chemical reactions with unpredictable results. Spontaneous fire may spread toxins on a wide area. Utilization of expired and prohibited pesticides is Ukrainian national problem.”

Indeed, there was a fire in 2009.

Simferopol, October 17 (Interfax-Ukraine): “A storehouse with pesticide in Dzhankoi (Crimea) is on fire…around 200 tonnes of pesticide and magnesium chloride…around 40 tonnes of pesticide was taken from the storehouse…” How extensive were the toxic clouds? Is this the real reason for 2009 reports of a million people ill in the Ukraine with Swine Flu?

“BRNO, Czech Republic, Sept. 23 /CNW/ – According to Milieukontakts Partner IHPA (the International HCH and Pesticides Association) the health of at least 7 million inhabitants in Moldavia and Ukraine is seriously threatened by a stock of old pesticides. IHPA calls for fast EU action to disarm this ‘biggest chemical time bomb of Europe’.

“…[in] the former Kalush factory in the west of Ukraine there is a stock of no less than 10,000 tonnes of superfluous Hexachlorobenzene (HCB). It’s particularly the positioning along the Dniester river that makes the situation extremely hazardous: a single flood and the high concentrations of poison would pollute the natural habitat of some 7 million people in the west of Ukraine and Moldavia.

“In total, tens of millions of inhabitants in Europe, Central Asia and the former Soviet Union are being threatened by pesticides. In Ukraine alone there are 4,500 storage locations with more than 30,000 tonnes of old pesticides, a legacy from the Soviet era. The substances have been prohibited since 2001. As a rule the packaging only lasts five to ten years. If nothing happens in that time, then the substances could simply end up in the soil or in the water…”

Jon Rappoport is the author of two explosive collections, The Matrix Revealed and Exit From the Matrix, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at www.nomorefakenews.com