Toxicology: Sheep & the Army

There was no denying that over 4,500 Utah sheep had staggered, fallen and died—their feet twitching spasmodically and some frothing at the mouth. There was no denying that their carcasses lay scattered across an area stretching 14 miles downwind from the Dugway Proving Grounds, a restricted U.S. Army chemical, biological and radiological research center in western Utah where nerve gases are tested. But last week there was plenty of denying by the Army that anyone had proved Dugway directly responsible for the sheep deaths.

It was true enough, said Army spokesmen, that...