The USAF has detected dangerous levels of carcinogens at multiple missile launch sites in Montana, following an investigation prompted by hundreds of cancer cases.
A large cluster appear to be connected to underground launch control centers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, where hazardous, carcinogenic materials were found.
The discovery came after an extensive sampling of active intercontinental ballistic missile bases after a non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases were diagnosed among troops.
The Air Force said it is taking immediate actions to clean up and mitigate the hazardous materials, while maintaining normal operations.
General Thomas Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, has directed the cleanup process to protect personnel. He promised transparency throughout the process.
‘Air Force Global Strike Command is taking immediate measures to clean up and mitigate polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at two locations following the release of initial results as part of the Missile Community Cancer Study,’ the statement said on Monday.
The USAF has detected dangerous levels of carcinogens at multiple missile launch sites in Montana, following an investigation prompted by hundreds of cancer cases
Jeff Fawcett Sr. (pictured) served with 564th missile squadron at Malmstrom, from 1988 to 1992
Jeff Fawcett Sr. (pictured) passed away in 2016 of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, both types of blood cancers at age 56
Dean Shockley was a young man also enlisted at Malmstrom serving in the base’s 341st maintenance group, where he worked on the missile silos from 1987 to 1989 at the same time as Fawcett Sr
In 2022, Shockley was diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma, a brain tumor at 56-years-old, according to Krem2 News
Air Force Capt. Jason Jenness was a senior missile launch officer in the 1990s with a missile squadron at Malmstrom, who died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2001 at the age of 31
Initially, a May report found ‘no factors identified that would be considered immediate concerns for acute cancer risks.’ But on Monday, the Air Force Global Strike Command announced the new finding.
The new discovery is the ‘first from an extensive sampling of active US intercontinental ballistic missile bases to address specific cancer concerns raised by missile community members,’ Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) said.
The hazardous substances, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were found in higher levels than recommended by the EPA.
The Air Force discovery of PCBs was part of an ongoing, larger investigation conducted by a bioenvironmental team that visited the sites from June 22 to June 29.
During the site visits, the team collected water, soil, air and surface samples from each of the missile launch facilities.
The team of bio-environmental experts reported the discovery of hazardous materials at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana on August 4 following the series of tests.
Of the 300 surface swipe samples at Malmstron, 21 detected PCBs. And of those, two were above levels set by the EPA requiring mitigation, according to the report.
No PCBs were detected in any of the 30 air samples. PCBs are oily or waxy substances the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified as a likely carcinogen.
In response to the findings, General Bussiere has directed ‘immediate measures to begin the cleanup process for the affected facilities and mitigate exposure by our airmen and Guardians to potentially hazardous conditions’, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
A large cluster appear to be connected to underground launch control centers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, where hazardous, carcinogenic materials were found. Malmstrom Air Force Base in central Montana is home to a vast field of 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos.
At least 268 soldiers who served at nuclear missile sites have self-reported being diagnosed with cancer, blood diseases or other illnesses over the past several decades, Jeff Fawcett Sr. (pictured)
‘Based on the initial results from the survey team, which discovered PCB levels above the cleanup threshold designated by law in two of our facilities, I directed Twentieth Air Force to take immediate measures to begin the cleanup process for the affected facilities and mitigate exposure by our Airmen and Guardians to potentially hazardous conditions,’ Bussiere said in a statement.
‘These measures will stay in place until I am satisfied that we are providing our missile community with a safe and clean work environment,’ he added.
The study was prompted following a military briefing obtained by the Associated Press that showed at least nine current or former missile staff at Malmstrom who were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare blood cancer.
The officers, known as missileers, were assigned as many as 25 years ago to Malmstrom Air Force Base, home to a vast field of 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos.
The officers, known as missilers, were assigned as many as 25 years ago to Malmstrom Air Force Base, home to a vast field of 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silos
They were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a briefing in January by US Space Force Lt. Col. Daniel Sebeck.
Missileers ride caged elevators deep underground into a small operations bunker encased in a thick wall of concrete and steel. They remain there, sometimes for days, ready to turn the launch keys if ordered to by the president.
‘There are indications of a possible association between cancer and missile combat crew service at Malmstrom AFB,’ Sebeck said in slides presented to his Space Force unit at the time.
The ‘disproportionate number of missileers presenting with cancer, specifically lymphoma’ was concerning, he said.
In the slides, Sebeck said the issue was important to the Space Force because as many as 455 former missileers are now serving as Space Force officers, including at least four of the nine identified in the slides.
In a statement, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said ‘senior leaders are aware of the concerns raised about the possible association of cancer related to missile combat crew members at Malmstrom AFB.’
The Montana cancer scare joins a series of damaging military health scandals, as rising numbers of veterans report toxic exposures in everything from contaminated water in California to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which according to the American Cancer Society affects an estimated 19 out of every 100,000 people in the US annually, is a blood cancer that uses the body’s infection-fighting lymph system to spread.
According to the Torchlight Initiative, a specific organization examining cancers and disease within the intercontinental ballistic missile community, at least 268 soldiers who served at nuclear missile sites have self-reported being diagnosed with cancer, blood diseases or other illnesses over the past several decades.
At least 217 of those reported cases are cancers and 33 of them are specifically, non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
An inert Minuteman III missile is seen in a training launch tube at Minot Air Force, ND. Missileers ride caged elevators deep underground into a small operations bunker encased in a thick wall of concrete and steel, where they can remain sometimes for days
Missileers have repeatedly reported health concerns over the years regarding ventilation, water quality and potential toxins they cannot avoid as they often spend 24 to 48 hours on duty underground with outdated infrastructure.
Air Force Capt. Jason Jenness was a senior missile launch officer in the 1990s with a missile squadron at Malmstrom, who died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2001 at the age of 31.
Jeff Fawcett Sr. also served with 564th missile squadron at Malmstrom, from 1988 to 1992, and ending up passing away in 2016 of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, both types of blood cancers at age 56.
Dean Shockley was a young man also enlisted at Malmstrom serving in the base’s 341st maintenance group, where he worked on the missile silos from 1987 to 1989 at the same time as Fawcett Sr.
In 2022, Shockley was diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma, a brain tumor at 56-years-old, according to Krem2 News.
In 2013, a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a link between tainted tap water at a US Marine Corps base in North Carolina and increased risk of serious birth defects and childhood cancers.
The study released by the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry surveyed the parents of 12,598 children born at Camp Lejeune between 1968 and 1985, the year drinking-water wells contaminated with chemicals from a leaky fuel depot and a dry cleaner were closed.
In the early 1980s it was discovered that two of the base’s water supplies were contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), a metal degreaser, and perchloroetheylene (PCE), a dry cleaning agent.