In Case of Emergency: Pine Bluff Arsenal
Thursday February 22, 2007 9:02pm   Reporter: Amanda Manatt   Posted By: Scott Munsell

Pine Bluff - The Pine Bluff Arsenal in White Hall houses the 2nd largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the country.

They're weapons that contain potentially deadly nerve and blister agents that, if released into the atmosphere, could prove catastrophic.

For about two years now, the Pine Bluff Arsenal has been destroying those chemical weapons, but the biggest risk isn't what you might think.

The Pine Bluff Arsenal was first built in 1942, to make weapons during World War II.

The facility still has an industrial side, as the country's only producer of white phosphorus, used by the military in weapons and smoke bombs.

Starting in March, the arsenal will become the only manufacturer of gas masks for the military -- a hundred million-dollar, ten-year project. But there's another, more dangerous, part of operation.

The arsenal stores and destroys some of the country's deadliest chemical weapons at one time, housing more than 12 percent of the nation's stockpile.

In 2005, the arsenal began the delicate task of burning the weapons, m-55 rockets that contain nerve agents v-x, and sarin, along with barrels of mustard gas.

A worst case emergency scenario would involve one of those chemical vapors leaking into the atmosphere.

(Col. Brian Lindamood, Commander, Pine Bluff Arsenal)"Everything we do as far as our response plan, storage plans, all the engineering in the storage facility and demil facility exists to make sure that doesn't happen."

There have been several minor fires since incineration began, but
Lt. Col. Casey Scott oversees the process and says the public was never in danger.

(Lt. Casey Scott, Commander)"It should be noted the explosive containment rooms where this takes place were designed so if the rocket were to explode and have an auto ignition, they still should be able to handle that kind of event."

(Scott)"The plant is not where we're concerned. We're concerned with the storage yard, where things are out in the air, and as we move them around, that's where the highest risk is."

That's why a new emergency plan is made every day, using wind conditions to chart the possible path of contamination.

(Mark Lumpkin, Arsenal Risk Management)"So if there were an event, we already know what evacuation routes we'd use, and if it changes through the day, that word goes out as well."

The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, helps educate the public in how to react. Thousands of people live in the immediate response zone: a 9 and a half-mile radius of the arsenal.

(Tina Owens, AR. Department of Emergency Management)"Do they need to shelter in place? Is it an event they need to evacuate? What things do they need to be doing to take care of themselves?"

Remote shelters have been set up in 10 counties, and schools would move students to safety.

(Owens)"We don't want parents rushing into a zone to get their children. The children are probably safer than their parents at that point."

The arsenal says there's never been a leak outside engineering controls, and the facility received good marks during its last federal emergency drill.

Officials say the arsenal's dangerous mission is worth it in the end.

(Scott)"Our ultimate customer is the American taxpayer and the people that live close to the arsenal to get rid of those weapons so they'll be safe and communities will be safe in the long-run."

Arsenal commanders say it will take another year to finish destroying the weapons.