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World War I Chemical Shell Injures Three
A World War I-era shell found in Delaware injured three members of a military explosives disposal team last week when what is suspected to be blister agent was released from the munition, the Delaware News Journal reported (see GSN, June 25). The three service members were confronted with a “black, tar-like substance” after using a small explosive charge in an attempt to open the corroded shell at Dover Air Force Base on Tuesday. The next day, the three reported undisclosed symptoms and one remained hospitalized in stable condition on Friday, according to an official statement. “World War I was when they were using and experimenting with various chemical agents,” said George Mercer, spokesman for the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. “My understanding is that the people from the Air Force who were doing this either had burns or blisters,” he added. A Delaware State Police trooper discovered the shell Monday morning protruding from a clamshell driveway near Bridgeville, Del. State police then requested that the base dispose of the munition. “We have an interest in learning what was in the shell,” said Maj. Cheryl Law, public information officer for the 436th Airlift Wing at Dover. “We decontaminated the area thoroughly, and there is no danger to the public whatsoever,” she added. The shell remains at Dover awaiting disposal, according to Karen Drewen, a spokeswoman for the Army’s nonstockpile chemical demilitarization program at Aberdeen Proving Ground. A trailer-mounted portable unit, called the Explosive Destruction System, is expected to be dispatched to the base to break apart the shell with explosions and then agitate the fragments with a neutralizing chemical. Between February and April alone, nearly 100 explosive devices were found in Sussex County driveways, according to state police. The explosives were probably transported by a hauler who sold clamshells, a common driveway covering in parts of Delaware, according to investigators (Montgomery/Jackson, Delaware News Journal, July 24).
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