Sunday July 24, 2005
A migrating deadly chemical component in military weapons during their
destruction at the Pine Bluff Arsenal may be the cause of fires last spring
that temporarily shut down operations, Army officials say. Preliminary test results show that stored M55 rockets containing the deadly
chemicals are not a safety risk but more study will need to be done, the
U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency said in a news release. The Army began incineration of its chemical weapons stockpile, including
nerve agents and mustard gas, at the Pine Bluff Arsenal on March 29. Rockets
ignited during cutting operations at the site on May 11 and May 22 and three
rockets ignited at Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon in April, forcing temporary
shutdowns of the incinerators. "There was never any danger to personnel or any release of agent to the
environment," the Army said in the release. "Preliminary assessments have
indicated that the rockets remain stable in storage and through routine handling
operations that bring them to the disposal process. At this point, all fires
have been associated only with rockets involved in the actual shearing/disposal
process." Military officials said more tests are needed to determine if the rockets
are too unstable to be cut apart from their warheads, which carry the nerve
agent GB, also known as Sarin, or VX. A final report is expected in mid-August.
Tests on nine rockets at the Umatilla depot confirmed that nitroglycerin,
a component in the fuel, had migrated to spaces between the rocket motors
and steel casings, the release said. The nitroglycerin is "a potential cause of the fires" when the volatile
chemical is pressed tighter as rocket components are cut up. "While yet to be confirmed as the root cause of the increased frequency
of fires, NG is very sensitive and a potential cause of the fires when pinched
between the steel case and rocket grain during shearing operations," the release
said. Gregory St. Pierre, director of the agency's risk management, stressed
that the findings were preliminary and more tests would be done using rockets
from the Arkansas arsenal. "The jury is still out as we prepare to look at and contrast these test
results with the Pine Bluff samples," St. Pierre said. "At this point, we
are dealing in conjecture." ___ On the Net: http://www.cma.army.mil