Australian government denies Agent Orange test claims
SYDNEY (AFP) -- The Australian defense department denied testing the powerful defoliant Agent Orange in rainforest near a town in the country's far northeast during the Vietnam War.
Defense officials were asked to investigate whether the toxic chemical had been tested near the Queensland town of Innisfail following media reports that it had been trialed there in 1966.
The media reports said that foliage in the area, which is about 100 meters (yards) from the town's water supply, had never properly regrown after the testing.
But the Defense Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) said Agent Orange had never been used in or near Innisfail.
""DSTO's search of archived reports shows that no trials have been carried out by defense scientists in the Innisfail area using Agent Orange,"" a defense spokesman said in a statement.