Gulf oil catastrophe critical

File: 011696_92_4_013.txt
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                                                                             PwOkt 202-="$"
                                     ,United rdmas $Mate
                                           WASHINGTON, DC 205 10


                                          April It 1991-




            Lt. General Frank F. Ledford, qr.
            Surgeon General of the A=y
            5109 Leesburg Pike
            Falls Church, VA 22041-3258

            Dear Lt. General Ledford-
                  I am receiving in@ries from constituents with family members
            in Kuwait who are concerned that the troops' long-te= @osure to the
            bypi:oducts of burning oil fields may have adverse health consequences.
            Frankly,, I       the air quality in Kuwait is a valid concern and one
            -well wo=th raising with Von. I am info@ed that the EPA is doing some
            kind of study of these @ssions, but with all due respect, I'm not
            sure how intensive this work is or whether it is going to be concluded
            fast enoughto ive you the infoy"ntion necessary to draw conclusions
            about any possille threat to the health of our a=ed forces.
                  I realize that this is   a largely unanticipated complication.
            Neverthelp,ss,, it is one that has to be dealt w@#, and the sooner the
            better, especially in @iew of the possibility that substantial numbers
            of U.S. f@ces will be in the region for a period of months. I would
            appreciate an @ight into whether you are aware of the urgency of
            this issue and believe it is a significant health problem.- will you
            soon have information at your disposal to make this judgment, and will
            you shortly be able to advise Congress and the publi& as to whether
            there is a basis for concern here?

 to this @ortant matter.





                                                        s   to@

            AG/bww

            cc: Fred Pang, Senate A=ed
                  services Committee
Box ID = BX000000
Unit = CONST ENG LABS  
Parent Organization = ;CORPS OF ENGS  
Folder Title = SMITH PAPERS POST GULF WAR RECOVERY                                                             
Subject = Gulf oil catastrophe critical
Document Number =         92
Image file name = 00000033.tif