Assistant Metro Editor
| A key government agency in charge of alternative means of destroying chemical weapons has an engineer at the Anniston Chemical Disposal Facility this week taking samples of gelled and crystalline agent from rockets stored here. The Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program, or ACWA, will take the samples to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland to study crystals that have formed in the agent taken from M-55 rockets. The crystals presents problems for facilities using neutralization as a means to destroy chemical weapons because officials don’t know how the crystals will react to the process. The development of crystals could force a change in operations at the Bluegrass Army Depot, which has a cache of weapons filled with GB nerve agent, or sarin, and has chosen neutralization as a means of destruction. Instead of burning crystalline rockets at high temperatures as the Anniston facility does, some facilities use water and caustic chemicals to break down chemical agent. Katherine DeWeese, an ACWA spokeswoman, said Tuesday that test results could impact the way the facility goes about destroying the weapons, but since there’s not a design for the chemical disposal facility for Bluegrass, it’s too early to tell how. “We have some of our folks down there right now, and they’re going to be doing some additional testing to figure out how to make that work,” DeWeese said. The crystals formed after a chemical added to the agent by the Army in the early 1960s to preserve its purity acted as a destabilizer instead. The compound, called Di-C-Di, formed the crystals, which are the size of rock salt, Garrett said last week. “This will help with some more information for those in pursuit of the alternatives,” said Tim Garrett, the Army’s project manager at ANCDF. In neutralization, water is used to break down chemical agent. Officials don’t know whether the crystals will break down. The samples will be taken from crystalline and gelled rockets and will include some liquid agent. Chemical weapons stockpiles in Pine Bluff, Ark., and Umatilla, Ore., also have stores of GB rockets. “We are going to be doing testing to determine whether the agent would hydrolize differently than the (liquid) GB,” DeWeese said. “It’s premature to say whether it would be more complex or complicated.” Officials said they could not discuss transportation methods for the samples, citing security concerns. “We’ll be in accordance with all regulations and the Army’s strict program for managing chemical material,” Garrett said. Operations would stop at ANCDF for a short time while officials take the samples, possibly for around six hours. The samples were to have been taken overnight and should be transported in the near future. |
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About Nathan Solheim
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Assistant Metro Editor Nathan Solheim is Minnesota native and a University of Georgia graduate. |
| Phone: Fax: E-mail: |
256-235-3551 256-241-1991 nsolheim@annistonstar.com |