Originally published January 6, 2005

The Army has reversed course and decided against bringing an artillery shell containing mustard agent to Aberdeen Proving Ground for testing, opting instead to destroy the device near the clamming plant in Delaware where it was found.

Officials had said the barnacle-encrusted, 75-mm ordnance, which dates to World War I and was dredged up off the Atlantic coast last year, could help the military learn what effect a marine environment has on the millions of pounds of chemical weapons dumped in the ocean before 1970.

But some residents were wary of the base bringing in mustard agent months after it eliminated a troublesome stockpile of the toxic substance.

An Army spokesman said senior Pentagon officials reviewed the benefits of testing the shell and decided against moving it to APG. The shell will be destroyed in a mobile explosive destruction chamber from APG.

The 10-pound shell that was to have been examined at APG was dredged up by a company harvesting clams 20 miles off the coast. It was then discovered at the plant, where the catch is sorted.

Over the years, more than 300 unexploded projectiles and fragments intended for deep-sea disposal have been found by the Army Corps of Engineers in driveways and parking lots made from crushed shells, including five on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

A public meeting scheduled for Monday at the Edgewood Senior Center to discuss the move will be canceled.

Dave Foster, the Army spokesman, said the change was not in response to community concern.

"The concern of the public is always foremost," he said. "However ... the Army was very confident in their ability to do this and were excited about the opportunity to present that to the audience at the Jan. 9 meeting."