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Nando TimesU.S. to help Ukraine investigate mysterious mass poisoning
The Associated Press
KIEV, Ukraine (September 19, 2000 8:02 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - A group of U.S. experts has arrived in Ukraine to help the former Soviet republic investigate a case of mass poisoning that may have been caused by leaks of Soviet-era rocket fuel, officials said Monday.
The team, which arrived Sunday, includes two scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency and three from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control.
They will spend a week in Ukraine, meeting with officials in Kiev and traveling to the four poisoned villages in the southern Mykolaiv area, an official with the U.S. Embassy said.
The experts are expected to take water and soil probes to determine the cause of the mysterious illness, which affected about 400 people in July and August in the villages.
The illness caused burning eyes, difficulty breathing, upset stomachs and skin rashes. Those hospitalized have been released, and no new cases were reported.
A base with solid-fuel SS-24 nuclear missiles, which now have no warheads and are to be dismantled in 2001, is located in the region. The area once housed other Soviet missiles powered by liquid fuel.
Some health experts have cited possible leaks of missile fuel as the cause of the illness, though the defense ministry has denied the possibility.
The ministry's medical service said the disease was most likely caused by the burning of plastic in the presence of copper, such as burning the insulation off cables stolen by scavengers with the aim of selling the metal.
Other government officials said the supposedly high concentration of nitrates in the area's water and soil was to blame.
The government has declared the region a disaster zone and has set up a commission to investigate the poisonings. Its findings are expected later in the week.
-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), September 19, 2000
This sure is mysterious alright.
-- Wellesley (wellesley@freeport.net), September 20, 2000.