Tuesday March 30, 2004

New way to destroy agent proposed

STOCKTON, Tooele County — Deseret Chemical Depot has announced a proposed strategy to get rid of mustard agent, calling for $50 million to $55 million in modifications to the Army's incinerator near Stockton.
     
It would be the largest modification ever carried out on an active chemical weapons disposal plant, according to an announcement by the Army and EG&G Defense Materials Inc., contractors running the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.
     
Toxic mustard agent is part of the chemical weapons stockpile to be disposed of at the Army's $1 billion incinerator. But mercury in the mustard agent storage containers and munitions posed a concern.
     
If they were burned, the way nerve agent has been destroyed, atoms of mercury that are mixed with the material would not be destroyed and might be released to the environment. The potentially hazardous material is an elemental — not made up of other types of matter — and can't be broken down by ordinary methods.
     
Under the new plan, all remaining bulk containers in the depot's storage area will be sampled before any are shipped to the incinerator for destruction. Containers without mercury will be destroyed in the plant's metals parts furnace, which will have some minor modifications to process the containers.
     
For agent with mercury, major modifications to the plant will be necessary. They include the addition of a bulk container washout/neutralization system and a filtration system, set up at one of the plant's two liquid incinerators, says the release.
     
"This strategy demonstrates the Army's commitment to protecting the public and the environment from heavy metals during the mustard agent processing, while obtaining the best values for the American taxpayer," said Dale Ormond, site project manager.
     
EG&G and other contractors in the chemical demilitarization industry will cooperate on the project. The expected modifications to the plant are a significant effort, said Gary McCloskey, EG&G vice president and technical director.
     
A press release adds that the changes will "minimally impact the overall destruction" schedule for the chemical weapons stockpile. The schedule calls for the demilitarization project to be finished in 2007.