Word: adl
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...another occasion, ADL refused to tell exactly where on its 40 acre research complex, referred to benignly as a "campus" or "Acorn Park," the Levins Laboratory is located. Though security reasons could be cited, the withholding of such information could introduce an error of several hundred feet in the Advisory Committee's estimate of the range of toxic effects from a leak or explosion, and consequently, make the already highly uncertain assessment practically useless...
Whether for security reasons or for less noble objectives, these inconsistencies aggravate the situation. Even given the benefit of the doubt, ADL is still implicated in a communication problem at the heart of the issue. Along more subtle communications lines, ADL has, since 1983, carried on an extensive public relations drive to convince its "neighbors" of the benevolence of its low risk project. Though ADL should be commended for its effort to simplify and communicate to the public the technicalities of its research, it is perhaps distributing, in effect, a metaphorical kind of nerve chemical, opiate of the public...
...chemical weapons detoxification testing as "Chemical and Food Services Research." The fact sheet refers only to "hazardous chemicals," never mentioning nerve gases. Only at the end of the report, among its anticipated projects, does it mention chemical warfare agents. Continuing in the gourmand tone of its opening references, ADL reports its toxin measurements in "tablespoons" and as "1/3 cup," instead of simply coming straight out and telling the public that a few drops are lethal...
...report reads like a description of a dangerous kitchen, whatever the intentions of its authors. In a letter distributed in January to nearby residents, ADL misleadingly devalues the term "nerve gases," citing "tiny" quantities of chemicals, that are "no more volatile than water." The outrageous association of nerve gases with water refers naively to how comparable their boiling points are, when the criterion should be toxicity. Finally, in a press release on March 7, ADL president, John F. Magee, announced that "not once have city officials expressed concern to us about the safety of the laboratory." If two years...
...stands, ADL's toxin lab-cumkitchen ware will remain in use, following last week's court decision to allow the company to continue its research while it appeals Cambridge's earlier testing ban. Ironically, the appeal, and thus the research, could go on for months or years, effectively and irresponsibly ignoring the concerns and efforts of the Cambridge community to come to grips with the situation. ADL's determination to continue its research at all costs during the appeal period speaks revealingly of its behind-the-façade concerns...