Judge Blocks Army Plan to Construct Chemical Testing Laboratory in Utah
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WASHINGTON — A federal judge Friday blocked construction of an $8.4-million chemical and biological testing laboratory at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah because the Army had filed a “clearly inadequate” environmental impact statement.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green was a victory for the Foundation on Economic Trends, a nonprofit research organization on biological and genetic engineering.
The foundation had charged last December that the Army eventually planned to use a new “state of the art” aerosol toxin laboratory at Dugway to test genetic engineering weapons.
Green said that the evidence indicated that the Army might be contemplating such testing but that no specific plans had been proposed.
However, she issued a permanent injunction blocking construction of the new laboratory 95 miles southwest of Salt Lake City because the Army had violated a federal law requiring a detailed environmental impact statement.
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