Employees safely drain mustard agent from a ton container inside a sealed enclosure called a glove box at the Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Employees safely drain mustard agent from a ton container inside a sealed enclosure called a glove box at the Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.

Last mustard agent removed from Aberdeen yard


February 9, 2005

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Army News Service, Feb. 7, 2005) – The Army removed the last container of mustard agent from Aberdeen’s Chemical Agent Storage Yard Feb. 2, ending 61 years of the agent’s bulk storage at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The container was taken to the next-door Aberdeen Chemical Agent Disposal Facility for destruction. This made APG the first of eight U.S. Army stockpile sites in the continental United States to have emptied its storage area, officials said, eliminating any risk the stored agent posed to surrounding communities.

ABCDF is a pilot plant using a new technology to neutralize mustard agent by blending it with hot water and sodium hydroxide, officials said. They explained that emptied containers from the stockpile are processed through a second ABCDF pilot plant, the Ton Container Cleanout facility, in which each container is triple rinsed using high-pressure water spray. Containers are then cut in half, are decontaminated and are monitored before recycling.

With the removal of the last ton container by the Edgewood Chemical Activity, supported by the 22d Chemical Battalion (Technical Escort), officials said the Aberdeen facility enters the final phase of its mission to destroy the APG stockpile.

Teamwork was essential to reach this month’s milestone, said Edgewood Chemical Activity/ABCDF Commander Lt. Col. Gerald Gladney.

“The ECA and 22d Chemical Battalion worked hand-in-glove to make sure that the destruction of the stockpile was never delayed by the availability of ton containers,” Gladney said. “Members of both teams came in weekdays and weekends, and worked in all weather to keep pace with ABCDF as the containers were drained and the agent destroyed,” he said.

“I am proud of the contributions that both civilians and soldiers of the 22d Chemical Battalion (Technical Escort) have made in reaching this important accomplishment,” said 22d Chemical Battalion (Technical Escort) Commander Lt. Col. Franz J. Amann. “In support of ECA, these men and women played a critical role in the movement of the ton containers to the disposal facility, and in providing continuous storage and monitoring support to the CASY. Throughout the operation, all personnel remained committed to the safety of our community and environment,” he added.

The first ton container was removed from Aberdeen’s Chemical Agent Storage Yard in April 2003 when ABCDF began operations. Since then, ECA has managed the safe movement of 1,817 ton containers containing 1,623 tons of mustard agent.



Destruction of the bulk chemical agent and chemical munitions in the remaining U.S. Army stockpiles is required under the international 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention treaty and Congressional mandate.

To date, the Army has safely destroyed more than 33 percent of the nation’s stored chemical agent, officials said.

Other sites currently destroying stockpiles include:

• Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Utah, which has destroyed more than 50 percent of its chemical agent

• Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, Ala

• Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, Ore.

Two other sites, the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, Ark.; and the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, Ind., are anticipated to begin destruction operations this year.

More information on these stockpile sites and the U.S. Army’s chemical demilitarization program can be found at www.cma.army.mil.

(Editor’s note: Information provided by a U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency news release.)