State Wants More Information On Mustard Gas

(AP) PUEBLO, Colo. The state health department has ruled that the Army must get a permit to destroy mustard gas still stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot, the Pueblo Chieftain reported Saturday.

The newspaper said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said a permit is required because the weapons are hazardous waste and are still deadly weapons. The department also said the Army must come up with a detailed management plan.

The Army has said since the 1970s that it was going to destroy the 2,611 tons of mustard agent or 780,000 rounds. The fact that they could still be used as weapons was the basis of the state ruling.

But last June it froze funding, and the destruction program stalled. The target date for destruction is 2012.

The state and depot officials have been talking since last summer on how to manage the mustard agent until it is destroyed.

Gary W. Baughman, division director of the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division, issued a compliance order to the Army this week, charging that the depot has violated the Colorado Hazardous Waste Act and other regulations and will have to obtain a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permit for continued storage of the weapons.

The Army also may face strictest rules on how it deals with the storage of weapons that have been leaking.

The depot was given 90 days to submit information on the weapons, the mustard agent and the propellants used to fire the weapons. Also required is information corrosion of the shells and their susceptibility to leaking.

"Our headquarters is looking at it and we're going to be evaluating what impact it will have," said depot spokeswoman Marilyn Thompson. "Our mission is still the safe, secure storage of the chemical stockpile. That's our mission and our overriding goal."