On Arizona Apache Reservation, A Toxic Legacy Of Chemical Spraying

"SAN CARLOS APACHE RESERVATION — The sound always came first, a low buzz that grew and grew until it roared through the valley. Then the olive-colored plane appeared overhead, flying low. In its wake was a thick shower of oily droplets making a long, slow fall to the forested gullies below.

Kids on the Apache reservation back then chased the planes over gem-laden hills, past the flame-yellow salt cedars lining the banks of the Gila River. If they arrived ahead of the planes, they stood under the mysterious, oily rain, waiting for rainbows.

'We just played in it, drank the water with it in there, ate the food we hung out to dry covered in it,' said Mike Stevens, 62. 'Didn’t know what it was.'

The planes were delivering a chemical cocktail with components similar to Agent Orange, the powerful herbicide that laid bare the jungles of Vietnam during the 1960s to allow American warplanes to peer into guerrilla encampments."

Nigel Duara reports for the Los Angeles Times January 19, 2017.