10 Unbelievable Stories About Area 51

3. It Gave The Local Community Cancer

FILE - In this April 23, 1995 file photo, President Bill Clinton speaks at a prayer service for the victims of the Federal Building bombing at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. The blast killed 168 people _ including 19 children _ injured hundreds m
JOHN GAPS III/AP

It could be suggested that, if you're that concerned about your health, you might not live near a military base that's allegedly involved in the scientific testing of other-worldly beings and technology. But in 1994 the base was dragged into a lawsuit with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Less than a year prior, five unnamed civilian contractors and the widows of contractors Walter Kasza and Robert Frost, alleged they had been present when large quantities of "unknown chemicals" were burned in open pits and trenches near the base. They developed severe skin and respiratory problems, and cancer rates in surrounding communities soared. In fact, the main purpose of the lawsuit was simply to force the government to divulge exactly what chemicals had been burned, so that doctors might actually be able to treat the scores of afflicted residents.

The result? President Clinton intervened, and signed an executive order protecting Area 51 from disclosing anything to the Environmental Protection Agency, and thus dismissing the lawsuit.

In this post: 
Area-51
 
First Posted On: 
Managing Editor
Managing Editor

WhatCulture's Managing Editor and Chief Reporter | Previously seen in Vice, Esquire, FourFourTwo, Sabotage Times, Loaded, The Set Pieces, and Mundial Magazine