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Colorado Community Wins Effort to Keep Chemical Destruction in its Backyard The U.S. Army has advanced its chemical weapons destruction plans for its Pueblo, Colo., facility, where the Army intends to eliminate mustard gas stocks using a chemical neutralization process, the Pueblo Chieftain reported today (see GSN, July 9). After receiving a request from a local group, the Army has agreed to conduct more of the destruction process in Pueblo instead of shipping potentially hazardous materials to other facilities. Pueblo County Commissioner John Klomp last night released a letter announcing the decision from Michael Parker, program manager for the Army’s Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program. To neutralize mustard gas, the Army plans first to remove the agent from artillery shells and mix it with large amounts of water and caustics. This produces thiodiglycol, a less hazardous substance than the mustard agent. In a second stage, the thiodiglycol is treated by introducing microorganisms into the solution that break it down further into a sludge that can be introduced into existing water treatment facilities. The Army had originally considered shipping the thiodiglycol solution out of Pueblo, but community leaders complained about the shipping risks and asked the Army to conduct the second stage locally. Keeping that process is expected to create 40 additional jobs and bring in $80 million more to Pueblo. Parker’s letter said the Army still plans to destroy the artillery shells’ propellants and storage pallets at another plant (John Norton, Pueblo Chieftain, Sept. 12).
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