Anniston Star
March 1, 2003

Kentucky stockpile will be destroyed by neutralization

By Jason Landers
Star Staff Writer
03-01-2003

The Army has made a final decision on how it will destroy chemical weapons in Blue Grass, Ky.

As anticipated, neutralization, followed by supercritical water oxidation, gets the nod.

The Blue Grass Army Depot houses the nation's smallest stockpile of aging chemical weapons, roughly 1.6 percent of the original national stockpile. It is the last of nine stockpiles to learn what its disposal method will be.

The configuration and type of weapons stored there is very similar to those stored in Anniston, though on a smaller scale.

Like Anniston, Blue Grass holds mustard, sarin and VX in various projectiles, rockets and ton containers. Additionally, Anniston holds cartridges, mines, and the infamous "Leaker Lot," a lot of rockets from which nerve agent is oozing at a rate dramatically greater than that experienced at any other stockpile.

Attempts to incinerate the Kentucky arsenal met intense opposition.

As small as the stockpile is, the Army could have incinerated it several times over in the time it took to reach the decision, sources said. But activists opposed the burnings, and politicians there lined up behind an alternative, which neutralization provided.

After 19 years of battling against incineration, the activists are hailing the final technology decision as a victory.

"Today is a victory by Kentuckians in our efforts to protect our health, welfare and environment," said Craig Williams, director of the Berea-based Kentucky Environmental Foundation and anti-incineration Chemical Weapons Working Group. "It has been a collective effort by thousands of citizens along with local, state and federal elected officials to achieve this result. Each deserve praise for sticking to it."

For Kentuckians, the process now turns to attaining permits, selecting contractors, building and operating the facility. Officials anticipate it will take between eight and 12 years to destroy the stockpile at a cost of about $1.2 billion.