Utah Depot Eliminates Mustard-Filled Mortars
Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah last week completed disposal of its stockpile of munitions containing mustard agent, the U.S. Army announced (see GSN, Jan. 13).

Elimination of 4.2-inch mortars leaves just ton containers filled with the blister agent to be eliminated at the depot's Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Roughly 350 "reject munitions" that could not go through incineration at the plant also remain; they will be stored pending destruction using an explosive detonation system, according to the Army's Chemical Materials Agency.

More than 1 million munitions filled with chemical warfare materials have been destroyed at Deseret, representing close to 90 percent of the site's original stockpile.

“With only bulk containers remaining to be processed, we will have an opportunity to begin early decommissioning activities" at the disposal plant, site project manager Ted Ryba said in a press release. Planning is already under way for that work, which would involve stripping munition dismantlement equipment and deactivating the incinerator employed to eliminate weapons' explosive parts (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, May 28).