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Debate: Did the government really test bioweapons on Staten Island in the 60s?
I was reading about this thing called the 'Staten Island Tuberculosis Trials' from 1965 where they allegedly sprayed a bacterial agent over the island without telling anyone. The government says it was just testing wind patterns, but locals swear the cancer rates spiked in that area within 3 years. Some guy I talked to at a bar in Brooklyn last month claimed his grandfather worked on the project and knew it was biological. What do you think - was it a secret test or just bad science that got blown out of proportion?
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nathankim13d ago
Wait, they actually went ahead and sprayed a bacterial agent over a whole island without telling anyone? That's wild... @jenny_lee, I'm with you on being suspicious of the government, but I never heard about cancer rates spiking within just three years after that 1965 test. My buddy's uncle lives on Staten Island and swears the mesothelioma cases there are way higher than normal, but I figured that was just from the old shipyards and asbestos, not some TB bacteria experiment gone wrong.
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linda_reed13d ago
1975 is when they finally admitted to the test, and @jenny_lee is right, the government kept that quiet for a whole decade. Honestly, the shipyards could explain some of it, but three years is too fast for normal asbestos cancer to show up.
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