Defense Environment Alert
September 24, 2002

EPA APPROVES ARMYS CLOSURE PLAN FOR JOHNSTON ATOLL FACILITY

EPA Region IX has approved the Army's revised closure plan for its Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) facility, giving the formal go-ahead for transitioning the atoll into a wildlife refuge. The Sept. 6 decision comes on the heels of an accidental release of VX agent at the facility, which shut down the chemical weapons incinerator for three weeks.

"Approval of the revised plan provides the Army with a green light to proceed with closing the facility and returning Johnston Atoll [to] conditions safe for people, birds and marine life," Arlene Kabei, associate director for Region IX's hazardous waste management program, said in a Sept. 6 statement. The closure plan addresses the facility's dismantling, the treatment of waste and methods of cleanup. It includes a human health and ecological risk assessment, a sampling and analysis plan, and a quality assurance project plan.

JACADS in November 2000 completed disposal of the chemical weapons stockpiled at the site and has been moving toward closure by destroying secondary wastes, such as contaminated worker protective suits and spent decontamination solution, in the incinerator.

A citizen source who would have preferred the Army use non-incineration methods to dispose of both the chemical weapons and the secondary waste says approval of a closure plan employing incineration is not really a surprise. But this source notes that even closure operations are a "very serious thing," and pointing to the VX release, says the JACADS facility is still showing that the incineration technology is not up to par.

On Aug. 12, workers at the incinerator were routinely processing sludge-like secondary waste through the metal parts furnace when a facility alarm indicated the presence of chemical agent. The waste, which was primarily spent decontamination solution sludge along with rags and workers' used protective suits, had already spent 2.5 hours in the incinerator at 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit and then been monitored in an airlock room for 22 minutes. Shortly after the container was moved from the airlock to a cooling pad, the alarm sounded, and the container was moved back into the airlock and then returned to the incinerator, according to Army sources.

Repeated testing confirmed the presence of VX at 45 times the permitted limit for VX in a solid, according to Army documents, although an Army official last week said it is still unclear whether it was truly VX that triggered the monitoring alarms.

The Anny restarted operations at the incinerator Aug. 31, after completing a site investigation and briefing EPA officials, an Army spokesman says. The investigation concluded that the agent release resulted from improper loading of the secondary waste through the incinerator. Although the Army has started to process the secondary waste again, it is going very slowly and not processing as rapidly as before, he says. The Army is trying to learn as much as it can from the incident and has implemented some corrective actions, including refresher safety training for the workers. Even with the slower processing rates, the Army is still on track to complete closure by January 2004, he says.

The VX detection remains troubling to Army officials, Delbert Bunch, deputy program manager for chemical demilitarization, said Sept. 19 in a speech to members of the National Defense Industrial Association. He said he is not satisfied the Army has developed all the necessary monitoring protocols and that there continue to be questions on how best to monitor for VX. While the monitors said it was VX that was released, chemically the substance didn't look like VX and it may not have been an agent release, he said, adding that the issue of accurate VX monitoring affects all the Army's chemical weapons stockpile sites.