
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994                    TAG: 9406080485 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A12    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: 940608                                 LENGTH: HOUSTON

DESERT STORM VETS SUE U.S. MAKERS OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS

{LEAD} Desert Storm veterans are suing 11 American firms they say are responsible for illnesses they contracted during the Gulf War.

The 26 veterans are seeking more than $1 billion in a class-action lawsuit for the disabilities they say they suffered from biological and chemical weapons used by the Iraqis.

{REST} The lawsuit was filed Monday in Angleton, just south of Houston, where one of the defendants, Rhone-Poulenc Inc., has a plant. A call to the Rhone-Poulenc headquarters in Shelton, Conn., was not returned Tuesday.

The defendants are accused of manufacturing biological compounds they knew were ``unreasonably dangerous,'' said David Bickham, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

They also are accused of conducting business in such a way that ``an outlaw country like Iraq'' could acquire the compounds and use them to make chemical and biological weapons, he said.

Francis ``Frank'' Spagnoletti, another attorney for the plaintiffs, said his clients suffered a variety of disorders, including memory loss and speech and motor impairments.

``There's a responsibility there,'' Spagnoletti said.

Veterans are barred from suing the Defense Department.

Last April, a committee of independent experts, organized by the National Institutes of Health, said in a report that the so-called ``Gulf War Syndrome'' involves symptoms that could have been caused by any one or all of a combination of stress, chemical pollution or parasites.

``There is no single disease or syndrome apparent, but rather multiple illnesses with overlapping symptoms and causes,'' the report said.

The panel called for research to define the illness and to establish a treatment plan.

The defendants named in the lawsuit are:

Abb Lummus Crest, Inc. of Bloomfield, N.J.; Abb Lummus Crest North America, Inc. of Delaware; Alcolac, Inc. of Georgia; Alcolac International, Inc. of Linthicum, Md.; Interchem, Inc. of Monmouth Junction, N.J.; Rhone-Poulenc, Inc.; Posi-Seal International, Inc. of Delaware; Fisher Controls International, Inc. of St. Louis; Bechtel Group, Inc., of San Francisco; Bechtel Corp. and American Type Culture Collection, Inc. of Rockville, Md.

Spagnoletti said 17,000 veterans have made specific claims with public health authorities.

His clients in the lawsuit are from Ohio, Mississippi, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Maryland, New York and California.

{KEYWORDS} PERSIAN GULF WAR CHEMICAL WARFARE ILLNESS VETERANS DESERT STORM BIOLOGICAL WARFARE by CNB