Lexington Herald-Leader
May 13, 2002

Worker: Weapons mishandled; She says corners cut at nerve agent plant

By Robert Gehrke
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Managers at the nation's only chemical weapons incinerator encouraged workers to cut corners so a deadly nerve agent stockpile could be destroyed before the Winter Olympics in nearby Salt Lake City, a plant employee says.

Brenda Mugleston, who has worked for eight years at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, told The Associated Press that workers were promised a $750 bonus for meeting the deadline. She said they felt pressure from managers to increase productivity and they sometimes mishandled weapons.

Mugleston said she feared workers and the public were being endangered and told man agers but nothing was done. She also reported problems to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Stuart Young, attorney for EG&G Defense Materials, which runs the incinerator for the Army, said Mugleston's allegations are being investigated and "at this point we don't have any reason to believe there are any immediate health, safety or environmental concerns."

Mugleston said she has reported the problems to OSHA and provided a letter saying the agency is investigating. Agency spokesman Bill Wright said whistleblower laws preclude him from identifying complainants.

Army spokeswoman Nancy Ray said the Pentagon is pleased with the work EG&G has done. "It's absolutely a professional operation," she said.

Tooele, located 40 mile west of Salt Lake City, is home to the Pentagon's incinerator, created to destroy 13,616 tons of the chemical weapons stockpile. Other incinerators are being built in Anniston, Ala.; Umatilla, Ore.; and Pine Bluff, Ark.

The incinerator was forced to shut down for several months in the summer of 2000 after a tiny amount of GB nerve agent escaped from its emissions stack.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the amount was small enough that it did not endanger the public. Plant managers say it is the only time nerve agent was released.

Mugleston's allegations come as the plant prepares to process VX agent, which the CDC and Environmental Protection Agency say is 36 times more deadly than the sarin gas the facility has been handling and much more difficult to detect.

Company officials declined to comment and said their investigation is ongoing.

Mugleston said more problems surfaced late last year as workers rushed to finish before the Olympics began in February. Tooele was shut down during the Games as part of security precautions.

(The Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond is the repository of more than 500 tons of nerve and blister gas. Army officials are expected to decide this month whether to use an incinerator or some other method to destroy the materials.)