Anniston Star
July 1, 2003

Alarms sound at Aberdeen weapons disposal facility

By Sara Clemence
Star Staff Writer
07-01-2003

For the second time in a week, warning alarms sounded at the chemical weapons disposal facility in Aberdeen, Md., Saturday, according to an Army press release.

Air monitors in a room where ton containers of mustard agent are drained detected low levels of agent.

There were no workers in the room at the time, the release said. They had exited to prepare to remove a container that had been drained and decontaminated.

The mustard agent dissipated 15 minutes later, the release said. Officials at Aberdeen Chemical Agent Disposal Facility are investigating the cause of the incident.

Aberdeen is one of eight chemical weapons storage and disposal facilities in the United States. The facility uses neutralization to destroy its store of mustard agent, and has processed 3,900 gallons since it began operations in April.