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The nation’s chemical weapons processing facilities
had a productively destructive middle of the month.
The Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal facility destroyed
3,656 weapons and 535 gallons of agent between Dec. 12 and Monday. The facility
has destroyed 114,575 weapons and 85,076 gallons of sarin, about 18 percent
of the original stockpile.
The Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in White
Hall, Ark., destroyed 1,175 sarin-filled rockets and 11,286 pounds of nerve
agent between Dec. 6 and Dec. 12. The facility destroyed its 30,000th rocket
on Dec. 8 and has processed a total of 30,752 rockets and 298,182 pounds
of nerve agent, about four percent of its original stockpile.
On Thursday, crews at the Non Stockpile Chemical Materiel
Project at Pine Bluff began destroying binary chemical precursors. The precursors,
according to the Army’s Chemical Materials Agency, were developed in the
1980s as an upgrade to the nation’s chemical weapons stockpile, and consist
of two non-lethal agents that mix in mid-air to form a nerve agent.
Globalsecurity.org, a defense Web site, said the Army’s
compounds would have turned into sarin in mid-air.
In a press release, officials at Pine Bluff said the
two agents would be destroyed separately, with one campaign expected to last
three months, and the other to last from May to June.
The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Umatilla,
Ore., destroyed 2,216 rockets and 22,922 pounds of agent between Dec. 8 and
Dec. 14. To date the facility has destroyed 47,073 chemical weapons, mostly
rockets, and 515,547 pounds of nerve agent, about seven percent of its original
stockpile.
The Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Newport,
Ind., destroyed 3,156 pounds of VX between Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, about 3 percent
of its total. To date the facility has destroyed 75,062 pounds of agent,
about three percent of its total.
The Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Tooele,
Utah, is undergoing a retooling process to begin the destruction of mustard
agent at the site. The facility said last week it has begun changing out
agent-contaminated parts in its heating, air conditioning and ventilation
ducts.
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