Defense Environment Alert
May 20, 2003

ARMY INVESTIGATING AGENT ALARM AT MARYLAND NEUTRALIZATION PLANT

The Army and its contractor, Bechtel Aberdeen, are investigating why a low level of mustard agent vapor was detected May 12 inside a chemical weapons neutralization facility at Aberdeen, MD. A source with the citizens coalition Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG) says such an investigation is necessary "whenever there's an indication agent is [found] where it shouldn't be."

The agent vapor was detected by a monitor immediately adjacent to an empty mustard ton container that had been cleared for removal from a drain station, according to an Army press release. The nine workers in the immediate area put on their masks and evacuated the building; there were no injuries and no danger to anyone outside the facility.

While CWWG has advocated the use of neutralization over incineration of chemical weapons, the neutralization "technology is not a guarantee that everything [during the demilitarization process] will go right," the source says. But, when something does go wrong at a neutralization plant, it is easier to fix than at an incineration facility where agent can more easily escape as emissions through the furnace stacks, the source says.

The Aberdeen facility began neutralizing a stockpile of mustard ton containers April 23. "Decontaminating the ends of the containers in the drain station has proven to require more time and effort than originally anticipated, and workers are refining the techniques required to clear the containers without undue delay," the Army says.