Pine Bluff Plans to Begin Burning Chemical Weapons Next Year; Final “Dress Rehearsal” Performed

The Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas is prepared to begin incineration of its 3,850 tons of chemical weapons in February, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, July 26).

“We’re at the watershed point,” U.S. Army program manager Kevin Flamm told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

In recent weeks, workers practiced removing dummy munitions from a bunker and transporting the mock weapons to the incinerator, according to AP.

“This is really our final dress rehearsal,” said Chris West, a spokesman for contractor Washington Group International.

The Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility would be the sixth of eight planned U.S. sites to begin eliminating chemical munitions. Its work is expected to take seven years (Associated Press/Lexington Herald-Leader, Oct. 4).

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