Antianimal Biological Weapons Programs - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 225

Plum Island, New York, and later by coordinating antianimal activities
with allies.
Antianimal R&D was initiated as a result of a study conducted by the
Operations Research Office into the offensive potential of such agents.
The report concluded that because of the importance of livestock in the
economy of the USSR and the feasibility of developing the necessary ca-
pabilities there was a need to develop antianimal BW. This decision was
followed by “a firm requirement for offensive munitions and agents for
use against horses, cattle and swine” from the US Air Force. The US Army
Chemical Corps responded by assessing a number of potential sites to
conduct the necessary R&D and in 1952 selected Fort Terry on Plum Is-
land, New York. Existing plans by the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA) to build an animal disease research facility on the island offered
the advantage of common utilities, including a steam plant, decontami-
nation plant, and water system. 2
Plum Island lies in Long Island Sound, Suffield County, New York, and
covers about 840 acres. It is about 2.5 miles long, tapering from a width of
one mile at one end to around 800 meters at the other. It possesses a
natural harbor. The Chemical Corps facility covered about 3 acres and in-
cluded laboratories, animal houses, administration buildings, communi-
cation buildings, a hospital and fire station, a motor pool, a dock, ware-
housing, staff quarters, a commissary, cafeteria, and guardhouses. 3
Fort Terry was activated on 15 April 1952 as a permanent installation
under the control of the Chemical Corps but under the custody of the
First Army. Its originally scheduled opening, on 1 March 1952, was de-
layed by protests from local residents against the USDA's plans. At its in-
ception, it was planned that 9 military and 10 civilian personnel would
staff Fort Terry. By the time it was deactivated and transferred to the
USDA in 1954, it had at least 9 military and 8 civilian personnel. Another
162 people were directly contracted to service the facility. Records and
files from Fort Terry were transferred to Camp (later Fort) Detrick, which
retained responsibility for antianimal BW development, and many were
later destroyed. 4
The mission of Fort Terry was “to establish and pursue a program of re-
search and development of certain anti-animal (BW) agents.” Foot and
mouth disease (FMD) virus was the first candidate agent for develop-
ment. Fort Terry was also charged with screening other exotic animal dis-