U.S. Army Destroys World War I-Era Chemical Weapon

The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency this week used its portable Explosive Destruction System to destroy a World War I-era 75 mm shell filled with mustard gas, according to an agency press release (see GSN, Nov. 3, 2004).

The round had been stored at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware since it was discovered in a clam processing facility in late May. 

Operators detonated the weapon inside the Explosive Destruction System’s containment chamber. They then neutralized the mustard gas within the airtight chamber. Leftover liquid and pieces of the shell are expected to be transported to a commercial disposal facility, the release said. (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, Aug. 11).

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