|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Contractor Negotiating Permit for Chemical Munitions Destruction at Blue Grass Depot
The chemical weapons disposal contractor for the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky is negotiating with state and federal environmental agencies to determine how much of the chemical stockpile could be destroyed before the company seeks a full operating permit, the Richmond Register reported today (see GSN, Jan. 26). Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass has applied for a limited Research Development and Demonstration permit. “We proposed that all the GB [a nerve agent also called sarin] munitions could be disposed during the RD and D period,” Bechtel environmental manager Tom Kurkjy said Monday. The GB munitions account for 70 percent of the total stockpile at the depot, Kurkjy added. The remainder of the stockpile is comprised of VX nerve agent, none of which would be processed under the demonstration permit, according to the Register. The GB munitions — M55 rockets, M56 warheads and M426 projectiles — would be destroyed on an accelerating schedule under the demonstration permit. During the first two weeks, four rockets or warheads and six projectiles would be destroyed every hour, and disposal would peak from the 25th to the 30th weeks with 40 rockets or warheads and 15 projectiles destroyed each hour. The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection is concerned that processing more than half of the GB stockpile without a full permit would be viewed by the public as excessive, said April Webb of department’s Hazardous Waste division. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the hourly limit on weapons disposal under the demonstration permit — 880 pounds — would be exceeded during later stages of destruction (Ryan Garrett, Richmond Register, May 26).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
