Defense Environment Alert
July 30, 2002

ARMY HALTS UTAH WEAPONS DESTRUCTION TO STUDY WORKER EXPOSURE

The Anny has halted chemical demilitarization operations at its Tooele, UT, incineration facility while it investigates how a worker was exposed to sarin nerve agent while conducting routine maintenance, and how future incidents can be prevented.

The Tooele facility completed destruction of all sarin munitions and agent containers in March and was in the midst of preparing to begin incineration of chemical weapons filled with the agent VX. On July 15, two workers dressed in coveralls and wearing charcoal respirators --- cut into compressed air lines in the plant's liquid incinerator room to perform routine maintenance, an Army spokeswoman says. Unexpectedly, there was some residual agent in the line. which set off agent air alarms. This prompted the workers to move to another room and immediately put on their protective suits, she says.

The workers were taken to an on-site medical clinic for observation and additional testing, including blood tests to measure cholinesterase levels. One worker had normal blood levels, but the other worker had below normal cholinesterase levels and other minor symptoms such as temporary pupil changes, indicating he had been exposed to the sarin, she says. Two additional workers, who had been in an adjoining room when the alarms went off, were also tested for exposure, but the tests found no evidence of agent exposure, she says.

News of the exposure prompted a quick outcry from chemical weapons incineration opponents, who said the incident shows the danger of incineration and the Army's rush to begin the VX destruction campaign.

"This is exactly why we don't need incineration in Kentucky," Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) said in a July 16 statement. The Anny has stockpiled chemical weapons in Kentucky and is in the midst of choosing whether to use incineration or an alternative destruction method to dispose of the stockpile. "And this is exactly why the Army needs to think twice before (recommending] incineration as a technology for destroying the agents at Bluegrass Army Depot. Incineration should not be an option," he said.

This is not the first time agent has been released at Tooele. In May 2000, a series of equipment malfunctions and operator errors allowed sarin to escape from the incinerator's main stack, prompting a congressional inquiry. And several workers over the years have alleged they were exposed to agent. although the Army has denied most of these allegations. The issue of exposure measurements and standards has been a point of contention for years between workers and management for years.

"This is as close to a fatality as a result of exposure as we've heard about," Craig Williams, director of the watchdog organization Chemical Weapons Working Group, said in a July 16 statement. "Workers have routinely been exposed to agent at this facility due to pressures placed on them from management to shortcut procedures and meet arbitrary schedule deadlines," he charged.