Star Staff Writer
A vial of chemical agent found last month at the former Fort McClellan was destroyed on-site Wednesday, Army officials said.
Following two days of preparation, specialists turned the glass vial, thought to contain less than a teaspoon of blister agent, into waste.
The vial was placed with a bottle of neutralizer into a container called a Single Chemical Agent Identification Set Access and Neutralization System – SCANS for short. Specialists used a metal rod to break both bottles, and agitated the container until the contents were completely mixed.
It was the first time a SCANS was used in the field.
The effort involved several military agencies, including the Fort McClellan Transition Force, the Product Manager for Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Army Technical Escort Unit.
The waste is being trucked to Texas, where it will be burned in an incinerator.
The vial was discovered in November by contractors cleaning up an old chemical training area. Fort McClellan closed in 1999 and the land is being redeveloped for local use.