A worker moves a container of VX nerve agent to a disposal facility at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana. The depot finished destroying its VX stockpile last week (U.S. Army photo). Newport Depot Finishes Off Chemical Stockpile The Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana last week completed destruction of its stockpile of chemical warfare material, the U.S. Army announced (see GSN, July 30). The facility for almost four decades stored 1,269 tons of liquid VX nerve agent in bulk containers.  Chemical neutralization of the material began in May 2005 and ended Friday...Full Story

U.S. Could Owe Millions for Anthrax Mailings The United States could face tens of millions of dollars in liability payments over the 2001 anthrax mailings if it is ruled to have overlooked security risks posed by the scientist alleged to be the sole suspect for the attacks that killed five people, USA Today reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 11)...Full Story

State Dept. Says North Korea Stays on Terror List The Bush administration confirmed yesterday that it has not yet removed North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 11)...Full Story

	Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Bahamas Signs PSI Ship-Boarding Agreement The United States and the Bahamas yesterday signed an agreement allowing either nation to search ships registered to the other country for weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. State Department said (see GSN, Jan. 16, 2007). The agreement, signed by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kirsten Madison and acting Bahamian Prime Minister Brent Symonette permits officials from either nation to board and search the other’s ships while in international waters, and to seize the vessels if the need arises. The Bahamas has the world’s third-largest shipping registry, measured in ship cargo capacity. The United States has now signed nine ship-boarding pacts with other countries, according to a State Department fact sheet. The deal was reached under the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, a program aiming to prevent illicit overseas transfers of WMD-related equipment and materials.  More than 90 nations have joined the initiative (see GSN, May 28; U.S. State Department release, Aug. 11). Back to top

State Dept. Says North Korea Stays on Terror List The Bush administration confirmed yesterday that it has not yet removed North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 11). Pyongyang has sought to be taken off the list, and freed from the accompanying economic sanctions, as a reward for its ongoing denuclearization efforts.  Yesterday was the first day that delisting could occur, after President George W. Bush began the process in June. However, Washington says the Stalinist state must first agree to a plan for verifying its nuclear activities.  It wants a protocol that covers not only Pyongyang’s known plutonium operations, but also its suspected uranium enrichment and nuclear proliferation efforts. “The important point is they haven't produced for us that verification regime that we need to go forward on that issue,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.  “What we need from the North Koreans is a strong verification regime, that's our policy and it still stands.” The verification issue could prove another obstacle to the years-old diplomatic effort to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program.  North Korea reached such an agreement last year with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, but the process since then has moved in fits and starts. “The process has already been protracted and so it is already clear that this administration is not going to be able to achieve its stated goal” of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear complex and arsenal, said Asia Foundation analyst Scott Snyder.  “That means that the next administration is going to inherit this problem and it may be possibly what D.P.R.K. had intended all along” (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Aug. 12). Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday blamed North Korean “intransigence” for the holdup, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. “When you're dealing with Pyongyang the best-case outcome is two steps forward, one-and-a-half steps backwards, if not two steps backwards or two-and-a-half steps backwards,” Rudd said (John Garnaut, Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 12). Meanwhile, the U.S. Democratic Party has signaled its support for the six-party process in a draft version of the platform to be presented at this month’s presidential convention in Denver, the Yonhap News Agency reported. “We support the belated diplomatic effort to secure a verifiable end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and to fully account for and secure and fissile material or weapons North Korea has produced to date,” the draft says.  “We will continue direct diplomacy and are committed to working with our partners  through the six-party talks to ensure that all agreements are fully implemented in the effort to achieve a verifiably nuclear free Korean Peninsula” (Yonhap News Agency, Aug. 12). Back to top       Japan to Get Tsunami Warnings From Nuclear Monitor Japan yesterday signed a deal to receive data on possible tsunami activity from seismic and hydroacoustic sensors operated by an international nuclear detonation monitoring organization, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 3, 2005). "We will have access to more accurate and more rapid information to enable us to issue a tsunami alert," said Yukiya Amano, Japanese envoy to U.N. organizations in Vienna.  Amano signed the agreement with the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. The commission plans to reach similar arrangements with Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and other nations in the Pacific region, CTBTO chief Tibor Toth said. The organization maintains a global network of more than 300 above-ground, underground and underwater sensors to help enforce a tentative treaty banning nuclear bomb tests.  For the test ban treaty to enter into force, it must first be signed and ratified by China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Aug. 11). Back to top       Iran to Continue Nuclear Work, Ahmadinejad Says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday said his country would not compromise on its nuclear activities even as Western nations threaten to impose new economic penalties, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 11). The United States and its allies have expressed concern that Iran could use its uranium enrichment program to produce a key nuclear-weapon ingredient, while Tehran insists the effort is aimed only at generating nuclear power plant fuel.  The Western powers have threatened to issue new sanctions if Iran refuses to accept an offer of political and economic benefits in return for halting the enrichment program. "They've deeply understood that Iran's peaceful nuclear program will never be halted and of course they have no choice but to keep on talking to Iran," Iranian state media quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. "Despite threats and sanctions by a number of big powers, our nation is robust and is continuing living its own life as they cannot put obstacles in the path of our progress," he said (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Aug. 11). Ahmadinejad plans to discuss Iran’s nuclear program Thursday with Turkish leaders, RIA Novosti reported today. The Iranian president is expected to meet with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said (RIA Novosti, Aug. 11). Back to top       U.S. Removes ICBM Booster From Roadside Ditch U.S. Air Force crews have recovered a strategic missile rocket booster that was damaged last month in a transportation mishap near Minot Air Force Base, N.D. (see GSN, Aug. 1). A truck fell off a gravel road July 31 while carrying the unarmed Minuteman 3 booster to its silo.  The missile was retrieved Saturday and base personnel have begun an investigation of the accident, the Associated Press reported (Associated Press/North Dakota Jamestown Sun, Aug. 11). Back to top

U.S. Could Owe Millions for Anthrax Mailings The United States could face tens of millions of dollars in liability payments over the 2001 anthrax mailings if it is ruled to have overlooked security risks posed by the scientist alleged to be the sole suspect for the attacks that killed five people, USA Today reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 11). The central question is whether the U.S. Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases was or should have been aware of indicators that microbiologist Bruce Ivins was mentally unstable, according to Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. The U.S. Justice Department last year identified Ivins as the perpetrator of the mailings and was reportedly preparing charges against him when he committed suicide in late July.  Ivins’s legal team maintains he had no role in the mailings. Whether or not the laboratory was aware of Ivins’s mental instability, "the question is whether they should have known," Turley said.  "It's like saying that you didn't know that a physician was a perfect lunatic at a hospital.  The expectation is that a hospital would have sufficient monitoring to detect lunacy." One $50 million lawsuit contends that American Media Inc. photo editor Bob Stevens died after exposure to one contaminated envelope because the Fort Detrick biological defense facility failed to properly store and secure an anthrax supply allegedly used in the attacks (see GSN, May 6). "One of the people that worked at the laboratory told me they had better security at a 7-Eleven than they did at the … laboratory where they had the most dangerous substances known to mankind," said Richard Schuler, a lawyer for Stevens’s family (Ken Dilanian, USA Today, Aug. 11). The years-long federal investigation of the mailings shattered the careers and personal lives of some people it targeted, the New York Times reported yesterday. Before setting its sights on Ivins, the probe grilled academics, non-U.S. nationals and biological warfare experts, including other USAMRIID staffers. “It was not pleasant,” said Jeffrey Adamovicz, a former USAMRIID official who remembered employees viewing each other with suspicion.  “There was a general sense of paranoia that they were going to get somebody no matter what.” When Ohio microbiologist Perry Mikesell came under the scrutiny of investigators, he turned to alcohol abuse and died soon after, according to relatives.  A New York doctor lost his marriage and was damaged professionally when he became a suspect, his lawyer said.  Two Pakistani brothers were forced to find work outside the United States after falling under suspicion for a short time. “You do the best you can, and it’s not always pretty,” said former FBI domestic terrorism chief Robert Blitzer.  “Here you have a bunch of people dead and several diminished, and you’re charged with solving the crime.  You try not to step on people’s toes, but sometimes it happens” (Broad/Shane, New York Times, Aug. 11). Back to top       Second Guilty Plea Wraps Up Las Vegas Ricin Case A cousin of an admitted biological toxin maker pleaded guilty yesterday to concealing knowledge of his relative’s crime, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 11). In federal court in Utah, 54-year-old Thomas Tholen acknowledged not alerting authorities when he learned as early as 2005 that his cousin Roger Von Bergendorff had produced a quantity of ricin, a potentially lethal biological agent. Authorities seized a stash of ricin containers earlier this year from a Las Vegas motel where Von Bergendorff had stayed.   He pleaded guilty last week to possessing the biological toxin and is expected to receive a 37-month sentence as part of a plea agreement (see GSN, Aug. 5).  In exchange for Tholen’s guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of probation only, AP reported.  Tholen is set to receive his sentence in October and Von Bergendorff in early November (Paul Foy, Associated Press/Google News, Aug. 11). Back to top       Boston University Asks to Start Biolab Training Boston University has requested permission from city officials to begin training personnel early next year to work at a nearly finished biological defense laboratory, the Boston Globe reported today (see GSN, May 5). Construction of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories is set to be finished at the end of August.  University officials hope to begin safety, health and operations training in February for hundreds of people. "This training period also will provide an opportunity for the community to learn more about how biosafety research in research labs is carried out and about the many safety protocols in place," said head laboratory investigator Mark Klempner. Klare Allen, head of the local watchdog group Safety Net, expressed concerns about the building’s security during the planned training. "The bottom line is they have to be cognizant of who's going in and out of this building." Allen said.  "We don't want anyone studying how to game this place." Actual research on plague, Ebola and other deadly biological agents cannot begin at the site prior to completion of a new environmental risk assessment (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2007).  The report is expected next year, the Globe said (David Abel, Boston Globe, Aug. 12). Back to top

Newport Depot Finishes Off Chemical Stockpile The Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana last week completed destruction of its stockpile of chemical warfare material, the U.S. Army announced (see GSN, July 30). The facility for almost four decades stored 1,269 tons of liquid VX nerve agent in bulk containers.  Chemical neutralization of the material began in May 2005 and ended Friday. “This day marks a tremendous milestone for the workers at Newport, the citizens of Indiana and the rest of the world,” Conrad Whyne, head of the Army Chemical Materials Agency, said in a press release.  “Newport's stockpile has been safely eliminated, which brings the United States one step closer to fulfilling the commitment of destroying our nation's chemical weapons.” The United States has now eliminated 55 percent of a chemical agent arsenal that originally stood at more than 30,000 tons, completing operations at Newport, Johnston Atoll and the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.  Operations continue at four U.S. sites and have yet to begin at two storage depots (see GSN, July 8).  The Chemical Weapons Convention requires the United States to finish off its full stockpile by 2012, though U.S. officials have acknowledged they cannot meet that deadline.  Congress had mandated that work be completed by 2017. Treatment of caustic wastewater produced by neutralization at Newport is expected to be completed within a matter of weeks at a private plant in Port Arthur, Texas.  The Army would then ask the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to verify completion of operations at the Indiana site (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, Aug. 11). That would be followed by an 18-month to two-year project to disassemble and remove the disposal technology, the Associated Press reported. Operations at Newport had cost $1.2 billion by late May (Associated Press/Courier-Journal, Aug. 12). “The successful elimination of the 1,269 tons of VX nerve agent over the past 39 months represents a major, historic step forward in protecting American citizens, removing a potential target for terrorist attack, and fulfilling our legal obligations under the international Chemical Weapons Convention,” Paul Walker, head of the Security and Sustainability Program at the environmental organization Global Green USA, said in a press release. “However, the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress have failed to adequately fund the safe destruction of chemical weapons in both the U.S. and Russia today, thereby delaying the process for a decade or more and potentially undermining the global ban on this whole class of weapons of mass destruction,” Walker added. An extended funding program and a stepped-up schedule are necessary to meet the congressional deadline, which hinges upon disposal of weapons stored in Colorado and Kentucky, Walker said (Global Green USA release, Aug. 11). Back to top       Cyanide Suspected in Man’s Death A man found dead yesterday in a high-end Denver hotel might have suffered fatal cyanide inhalation, the Denver Post reported (see GSN, June 23). Police discovered a powder in the room judged to possibly be the deadly chemical agent, department spokesman John White said, adding that the man was in his 30s and found several days after his death. No other people at the Burnsley All-Suite Hotel have been reported sick and no contamination has been found outside the room.  However, the affected floor was evacuated and streets around the building were temporarily closed. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates cyanide as a “rapidly acting, potentially deadly chemical” that stops the body from metabolizing oxygen.  The substance is used in health care research and mining operations and exists in minute amounts in cigarettes and lima beans (Joey Bunch, Denver Post, Aug. 11). Back to top

Top Polish Missile Defense Negotiator Fired Poland’s top negotiator on hosting an element of the U.S. missile defense system has been fired, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, July 23). “The way [Deputy Foreign Minister Witold] Waszczykowski negotiated, his hard, unequivocal view on the issue did not fully reflect my own views,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday. Waszczykowski supported the U.S. proposal to install 10 missile interceptors in Poland, while his boss had been more reserved about the plan.  Tusk apparently felt that Waszczykowski failed to take a sufficiently hard stand in negotiations, AP reported.  The prime minister also blasted Waszczykowski for comments made to the Polish edition of Newsweek magazine, in which the diplomat said the Tusk administration worried less about security than about political victories. Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski has been assigned to lead the negotiations (Monika Scislowska, Associated Press I/Syracuse.com, Aug. 11). Top U.S. negotiator John Rood is scheduled to arrive in Warsaw tomorrow for three days of talks, Reuters reported. The Bush administration is seeking to close the deal with Poland after reaching agreement with the Czech Republic on deployment of a U.S. early warning radar (see GSN, July 8).  The Tusk government has demanded security assurances and U.S. support for military upgrades as part of any deal. “The example of Georgia shows strongly how important is today the security of Poland and of the whole region,” Tusk said, several days after Russian military forces entered the former Soviet republic.  “In the while post-Soviet region realistic guarantees of security and territorial integrity are even more important today” (Gabriela Baczynska, Reuters/Yahoo!News, Aug. 11). Tusk said today that negotiations appear “to be on the right track,” AP reported. “This week, we should achieve progress with the U.S. side on the missile defense issue,” he said. Diplomats have offered “optimistic information” regarding U.S. willingness to provide Poland with air defenses, Tusk said.  He previously said that the U.S. proposal to allow Warsaw to lease Patriot systems was “unsatisfactory” (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, Aug. 12). Back to top       Turkey to Pay $1B for Missile Defenses Turkey is expected to pay $1 billion for eight missile defense systems to protect the cities of Ankara and Istanbul, RIA Novosti reported yesterday (see GSN, April 29). The first four batteries would be used for defense of the Turkish capital.  “Systems that will be bought later will be deployed in other areas, depending on the threats encountered by the country,” said Defense Undersecretary Murat Bayar. The leading systems appear to be Russia’s S-300 or S-400 or the U.S. Patriot, though Chinese and Israeli technologies are also being considered (RIA Novosti, Aug. 11). Back to top

NYC Hopes to Screen Autos for Radiation The New York City Police Department has begun to develop a plan to screen all automobiles entering Manhattan for radioactive materials, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, June 3). “Operation Sentinel” would deploy radiation scanners at every bridge and tunnel into the city and would record license plate information as well.  “Our main objective would be to, through intelligence, find out about a plot before it ever got to a stage where a nuclear device or a dirty bomb was coming our way,” said police spokesman Paul Browne. “This provides for our defense after a plot has already been launched and a device is on its way.” Specific funding for the proposal has not yet been secured and the system would probably not be operation for at least a few years, according to the Times (Al Baker, New York Times, Aug. 12). Back to top       U.S. to Extend Lax Radiation Standards for “Dirty Bomb,” Nuclear Emergency Response, Critics Say The Bush administration plans to use controversial radiation standards to guide the Environmental Protection Agency’s response to radiological emergencies, including “dirty bombs,” the Superfund Report disclosed yesterday (see GSN, July 29). The Homeland Security Department first adopted the standards last month in a document outlining federal plans to respond to a terrorist nuclear or radiological weapon attack.  Critics argued that the department was preparing to allow post-attack radiation levels that far exceeded normal environmental standards. The administration is now prepared to use those standards to respond to other nuclear emergencies, according to Superfund Report. “This is the first time the federal government is saying it is OK to fry members of the public,” one unnamed critic said (Douglas Guarino, Superfund Report, Aug. 11). Back to top

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