Australian state government to probe Agent Orange claims

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — The government of Australia's Queensland state on Sunday said it will investigate claims that chemical weapons such as Agent Orange were tested there in the 1960s.

Reports said that forest near Innisfail, a town on the country's far northeastern coastline, had been a testing ground for the defoliant at the start of the Vietnam War.

Agent Orange, widely used by US forces in Vietnam to clear jungle cover, contains the extremely toxic chemical dioxin.

Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said she would take the matter to the federal government and urged Innisfail residents to contact the local environmental authority if they had any health concerns.

"Any concerns these residents have can and will be investigated thoroughly, just as we have...