Defense Environment Alert

an exclusive biweekly report on defense policies for cleanup, compliance and pollution prevention

Vol. 17, No. 10

May 12, 2009

ARMY RESPONDS TO AUDITORS' CHALLENGE ON CHEMICAL WEAPONS RECORDS

The Army's Chemical Materials Agency (CMA), in a series of recently-adopted measures, is stepping up efforts to accurately track chemical agents destroyed under its management at chemical weapons stockpiles around the country after Army auditors last year criticized the agency's record-keeping. CMA says it has taken corrective action to ensure the accuracy of its records.

The auditors in their Aug. 26 report, obtained by Defense Environment Alert via a Freedom of Information Act request, did not suggest that chemical agent scheduled for destruction was unaccounted for, but did find flaws in CMA's record-keeping. Specifically, they found fault with records on so-called ton containers that hold agents such as mustard at stockpile sites in one-ton drums, rather than actual munitions. Documentation showing chemical agent has been destroyed is crucial to meeting the requirements of an international treaty known as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which is binding on the United States.

In the report, Agent Accountability at Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities, the auditors conclude: "Our review showed that amounts recorded as destroyed in the Chemical Accountability Management Information Network (CAMIN) weren't always accurate for chemical agent filled ton containers."

"As a result, the agency didn't have complete assurance that amounts recorded in the system were accurate which increased its chances for heightened levels of program scrutiny by federal, State and international organizations that have a vested interest in the elimination of chemical weapons," the auditors say. The report is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.

The auditors say the primary cause of the discrepancies found was inaccurate weighing of ton containers exacerbated by the hardened 'heels' of agent that form in the containers.

CMA did not contest the findings and now says it has taken action to improve record-keeping by accounting for destruction of both the drained agent and "heels." After adjusting for the "heels," CMA says it "has reviewed procedures for recording ton container agent destruction in CAMIN and has determined the amount of agent listed on the Certificate of Destruction as demilitarized is the amount in CAMIN, the official accountable record," CMA says in a written response to questions.

After its review, CMA concluded that "no regulatory changes are needed," the response adds. However, in its formal response to the auditor's report, CMA acknowledges the importance of CAMIN numbers being accurate, as these are sent to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which monitors the country's compliance with the CWC.

"Adjusting the weights of the ton containers in CAMIN would require, at a minimum, a supplemental treaty declaration," the CMA says, suggesting instead that "an 'Ad Hoc' report within CAMIN is capable of showing the variances from the declared weight on record and the drained weight and the residual agent heel destroyed."