[HN Gopher] The Sheep Incident (2008)
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       The Sheep Incident (2008)
        
       Author : EndXA
       Score  : 38 points
       Date   : 2023-12-05 19:05 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.damninteresting.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.damninteresting.com)
        
       | dumpHero2 wrote:
       | tldr; In 1968, the U.S. Army tested a deadly nerve agent called
       | VX. The nerve agent killed thousands of sheep grazing near the
       | testing site. The Army denied responsibility for the deaths. The
       | article also details other instances of the Army mishandling
       | dangerous chemicals.
        
       | scottyah wrote:
       | Wow, how horrifying. The more I read about the Nixon/Kissinger
       | era, the less I wish I had.
       | 
       | Also of note is the fact that the original compound was used as a
       | pesticide for years. Pesticides in general give me paranoia as
       | they try to delicately toe the line between effectively killing
       | small beings and not causing harm to humans.
        
       | VyseofArcadia wrote:
       | The town I went to school in was the site of a chemical weapons
       | depot. There was a chemical weapons incinerator there dealing
       | with the surplus which could not be stored indefinitely. Every
       | school public building had to have enough pressurized rooms for
       | occupancy, and we had special sirens for "there's been a nerve
       | gas leak" and "there's been a mustard gas leak".
       | 
       | It was, in retrospect, a horrifying way to grow up. Anyway, the
       | nerve agent they were disposing of was VX.
        
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       (page generated 2023-12-06 23:00 UTC)