CWC:  ILO Rules Bustani Improperly Dismissed From OPCW

The U.N. International Labor Organization ruled last week that Jose Mauricio Bustani was wrongly dismissed last year as head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.  Charging him with mismanagement, the United States led the effort to unseat Bustani from the organization, which is responsible for implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (see GSN, April 23, 2002).

Bustani’s supporters have said the United States removed him because Bustani wanted Iraq to join the treaty, according to the Associated Press, a move that could have made it more difficult for the United States to go to war.

The ILO ruled that Bustani was improperly dismissed and awarded him $56,700, to be paid by the OPCW, AP reported.  The ILO said Bustani was not given a fair opportunity to respond to U.S. charges, according to a copy of the ruling obtained by AP.  The lack of due process in Bustani’s dismissal was “an unacceptable violation of the principle on which international organizations’ activities are founded, by rendering officials vulnerable to pressures and to political change,” the ILO said.

Bustani said the ruling was a “great relief” and that he planned to donate his award to an OPCW international cooperation program (see GSN, Jan. 9; Anthony Deutsch, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 21).

Back to top

Pakistan:  OPCW Has Cleared Second Pakistani Industrial Site

Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention, last month approved a Pakistani industrial site after conducting an inspection, the Pakistani newspaper The News reported today (see GSN, May 1).

Last month, OPCW inspectors visited and approved Nobel Wah (Private) Limited, sources said.  OPCW inspectors made their first-ever visit to Pakistan in April.  The Pakistani Foreign Office said last month’s inspection was kept secret because of concerns that the April inspection received unnecessary attention and caused needless alarm (The News/BBC Monitoring, July 18).

Back to top

Singapore Response:  Country Establishes Chemical Incident Response Unit

Singapore has established a unit to respond to a chemical weapons attack, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, May 14, 2002).

The Singapore Civil Defense Force Special Rescue Company now has 109 men who have undergone 10 weeks of training in special medical and rescue skills, according to AFP.  The company also has six vehicles equipped with chemical agent detectors and decontamination equipment.

“So far, we have not dealt with a real situation, but we are prepared,” said company commander Abdul Jalil Montel said.  “There are new threats like people using chemical and biological agents to strike terror.  Post-Sept. 11, 2001, made it necessary to acquire new capabilities to respond to these challenges,” Montel said (Agence France-Presse, July 17).

Back to top

United States:  Army Might Miss October Starting Date for Newport VX Disposal

Lingering technical difficulties in the neutralization method to be used to dispose of stockpiles of VX stored at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana could delay the target October start date of the disposal effort, the Terra Haute Tribune-Star reported yesterday (see GSN, July 2).

The U.S. Army has still not met a 20-parts-VX-per-billion requirement when conducting neutralization tests, said Jeff Brubaker, project manager at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.  The 20-parts-per-billion standard refers to the amount of VX left in the byproduct formed by neutralization, according to the Tribune-Star. 

Five scientific organizations are urging Parsons Inc., the contractor hired to construct and operate the Newport neutralization facility, to determine how to reduce the amount of VX left behind in the byproduct — called hydrolysate — to meet the Army standard, Brubaker said.  Testing is being conducted to determine the best neutralization method, with results expected by the end of the month, he said.

Another concern is that the Army and Parsons have not developed contingency plans in the event the neutralization byproduct cannot be shipped off site for final disposal, according to the Tribune-Star.  The byproduct is slated to be shipped to a commercial hazardous waste facility in Dayton, Ohio, but area residents are working to block the shipments.  Parson officials are considering whether to build an on-site storage facility at the Newport depot in case the byproduct cannot be shipped to the Dayton facility.

If the remaining challenges cannot be solved, the October starting date for the VX disposal effort could be delayed, said Army spokeswoman Terry Arthur.

“If everything goes exactly right, October is still a good date,” Arthur said.  “Parsons and the Army are conducting continuous, around-the-clock efforts to stay on schedule,” she said (Patricia Pastore, Terra Haute Tribune-Star, July 15).

Back to top

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

HOME  |  CONTACT US  |  GET INVOLVED  |  SITE MAP