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U.S. to Modify Chemical Weapons Disposal Method at Utah Facility
The U.S. Army plans to make $50 million in plant modifications at the Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah, altering the facility’s method for incinerating the mustard agent stockpile after the discovery of heavy metals in the agent’s storage containers, the Salt Lake Tribune reported (see GSN, Sept. 11, 2003). Mercury was discovered in the storage containers after disposal began in 1996, according to depot spokeswoman Alaine Southworth. Under the plan, a neutralization-bulk-container-washout system and a mercury filtration system would be installed in one of the two liquid incinerators at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, 45 miles outside of Salt Lake City. The metal parts furnace there would also be modified slightly for the incineration of containers that have not been contaminated by mercury and of mustard-filled projectiles, according to the Tribune. “It’s a pretty significant effort,” said Gary McCloskey, vice president of EG & G, the company that operates the incinerator. “It’ll be the largest facility modification effort ever in an active chemical weapons disposal facility,” he added. The incinerator has destroyed 6,000 tons of sarin, and work is under way on destroying 1,300 tons of VX nerve agent. Once the remainder of the VX is disposed of this summer, the Army plans to make the necessary incinerator alternations to begin destroying mustard gas, a blister agent that can dissolve human tissue on contact. Numerous activist groups have sued the Army in U.S. District Court in Washington, alleging that incineration is not the safest method for disposal of the toxic chemicals (Dawn House, Salt Lake Tribune, March 30).
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