Anniston Nears Completion of Sarin Destruction

The final batch of sarin-filled weapons was moved yesterday from a storage igloo to the weapons incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama (see GSN, Jan. 13).

The Enhanced On-site Container has made 2,872 trips, moving the entire sarin weapon stockpile. It took 31 months to clear out 43 storage igloos, according to a U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency press release.

The delivery signals that destruction of sarin weapons at Anniston is nearly finished. However, VX and mustard gas weapons still need to be processed, with VX destruction expected to begin this summer following a decontamination period (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency press release, Feb. 22).

The final 105 mm sarin-filled munitions are expected to be eliminated by the end of February, the Anniston Star reported Sunday.

“We think it will only be a matter of days until we can finish processing the last of our GB munitions,” said Mike Abrams, spokesman for the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.

Work on the weapons began in August 2003. As of Feb. 16, 137,856 weapons and 88,560 gallons of the nerve agent had been processed, according to the Star.

Other chemical processing facilities are also moving forward with agent destruction. Between Feb. 7 and Feb. 14, 900 gallons of VX nerve agent were neutralized at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Indiana. From Feb. 8 to Feb. 15, workers at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Oregon eliminated 270 sarin-filled munitions and destroyed 48,989 gallons of the agent.

Work at the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Arkansas has stopped so that piping in the pollution-abatement system can be replaced (Ben Cunningham, Anniston Star, Feb. 19).

Meanwhile, the Army announced yesterday that a nerve agent leak was discovered at Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky six weeks ago, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

The leak was caused by building pressure in a rocket and only a small amount of nerve agent was released, according to an Army statement.

None of the agent escaped from storage, and subsequent monitoring indicated that the leak had sealed itself (Lexington Herald-Leader, Feb. 22).

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