Friday, November 4, 2005
| Nerve agent sample disappears Investigators at Deseret Chemical Depot near Stockton, Tooele County, are trying to determine how a small sample of dilute GB nerve agent disappeared. Officials stress that the vial's contents will not hurt anyone because the material was diluted and a small quantity. "While the contents of the vial pose no threat to the public or workers, this situation is unacceptable," said Col. Raymond T. Van Pelt, commander of the depot, as quoted in a press release. Alaine Southworth, spokeswoman, explained in a telephone interview that experts at the depot's Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System plant use samples to check that monitoring equipment warns of any nerve agent contamination. Routinely, this is done by experts who carry around "calibration standard" vials of chemicals of various dilutions of GB, VX and mustard agent. Each may have as many as 10 or 12 of the vials, "challenging up to 30 different devices with different samples," she said. When so little of the sample is left in the vial that instruments can't detect it that sample is no longer used. That may take about two weeks. Vials are checked in and out, she said. On Wednesday, auditors compared records of vials checked out and checked back in and discovered one was missing. "We know who had it," she said. The base does not suspect terrorism or any other type of malicious action.
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