Defense Environment Alert
September 24, 2002

Army official says: UNITED STATES LIKELY TO MISS 2004 CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION MILESTONE

The United States will likely be just shy of destroying 45 percent of its stockpiled chemical weapons by the end of April 2004, an interim destruction deadline included in an international treaty requiring 100 percent disposal of chemical weapons by 2007, an Army official said last week. The Army is facing particularly tough destruction schedules at its Anniston, AL, and Umatilla, OR, sites, as the incineration facilities' start dates slip due to political and technical issues.

Delbert Bunch, deputy program manager for chemical demilitarization (PMCD), noted in a Sept. 19 speech to National Defense Industrial Association members that the United States has already destroyed more than a quarter of its stockpile and is far ahead of Russia's disposal efforts. But because of slipping schedules at the Army's incinerators in Alabama and Oregon, even best efforts would likely put the United States at only the 43 to 44 percent
demilitarization mark by April 2004, he said.

Russia has had problems meeting earlier interim milestones of 1 percent and 20 percent demilitarization, and last year formally asked for a five-year extension to the 2007 deadline, something allowed under the treaty (Defense Environment Alert, Dec. 4, 200 1, p 18). The Army, while not yet asking for a deadline extension, has also acknowledged that it will take
at least until 2012 to complete destruction of the U.S. stockpile (Defense Environment Alert, Oct. 9, 2001, p3).

In Anniston, the Army's incinerator is "in a state of nearreadiness," and the Army is still hoping for a November or December start of destruction operations, Bunch said. But it remains uncertain whether local officials' safety concerns have been allayed, which could delay operations, he said. "We may have a case where one party is not ready" for the
incinerator to begin weapons disposal, he said.

At Umatilla, the Army is hoping to begin weapons disposal in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2003, but Bunch said he has just been asked to approve a schedule extension for the site. The Army is in the midst of seeking to modify several technical aspects of the Umatilla incinerator after it exceeded permitted levels of heavy metals emissions during systemization exercises (Defense Environment Alert, Sept. 10, p4).

Bunch said that when he came to the chemical demilitarization program earlier this year, many in the Army viewed dealing with Oregon's regulators as "burdensome." After reviewing the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act permit for the Umatilla facility, Bunch said he believes the state's requirements are much more detailed than they need to be to meet the goal of safe weapons disposal. He said that he is concerned about all the program's waste disposal permits, and is aiming to ensure that the Army neither over-commits nor under-commits to taking certain steps during the regulatory process. "Operations are at risk [at Umatilla] because there is not the needed congruence" between the Army and state regulators, he said, adding that there are "very tough ... regulatory challenges in getting to operation."

The Army this summer had to stop operations at its incinerators on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean and at Tooele, UT, after VX nerve agent was mistakenly released at Johnston Atoll and a worker at Tooele was accidentally exposed to sarin nerve agent. The Tooele plant remains shut down while the Army waits for its proposed corrective actions to be independently validated, Bunch said, adding that he is looking for ways to incorporate more workarounds that reduce the amount of time in which workers could possibly be exposed to agent.

The Army restarted operations Aug. 31 at Johnston Atoll, which has completed disposal of its stockpiled weapons and is now in closure operations. Operations resumed after the Army completed its site investigation and EPA Region IX was satisfied that corrective actions were taken, according to a PMCD spokesman (see related story)

Bunch said he has an obligation to bring the chemical demilitarization program's cost and schedule under control, something he hopes to accomplish by this time next year. The cost and schedule for the program have skyrocketed. But at the same time, Bunch said he wants to make sure that a push for shortened schedules does not lead to sloppy actions that result in lengthy shutdowns.

At the Pine Bluff, AR, site, the Army has completed construction of the incinerator, and "so far, it looks like, it's on track," Bunch said. The Army, though, is looking for ways to safely shorten the systemization process, he added.

The Army is aiming for a March 2003 start to disposal activities at its Aberdeen, MD, stockpile site, where neutralization will be used to destroy the mustard-only stockpile. The technology for the Newport, IN, site, where the stockpile is solely VX, is undergoing "intense review," with a projected 2004 start, Bunch said. While the VX neutralization technology is straightforward, the engineering is not, which has put Newport's demilitarization schedule slightly behind Aberdeen's, he said.