Army to destroy mustard gas shell

BY MIKE BILLINGTON
THE NEWS JOURNAL
02/11/2006

Chemical weapons experts from the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland will destroy a World War I-vintage mustard gas shell at Dover Air Force Base sometime in the next two weeks.

Army officials would not give a precise date and time for the operation, citing security reasons.

The shell was uncovered during a clam shell dredging operation and later discovered at an unidentified processing plant.

The plant's owners reported the find to military authorities. The shell was then taken to Dover Air Force Base, said Karen J Drewen, a spokeswoman for the Army's Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project.

"The air base has a secure storage facility," she said. "It is standard procedure when one of these munitions is found to take it to the nearest military base and, in this case, that was Dover."

The 75 mm shell was discovered in October 2005, Drewen said, and has been stored at the air base since then.

This will mark the third time Aberdeen chemical weapons experts have been sent to Delaware to destroy old shells containing mustard gas, Drewen said. Weapons experts assigned to the project have destroyed more than 400 such munitions around the country since 1999, she said.

"We have developed a safe, proven technology for disposing of these old munitions that is also protective of the environment," Drewen said.

When they arrive at Dover, the weapons experts will put the old artillery shell in a stainless steel chamber. Once it is inside the chamber, the experts will cut it open using explosives, Drewen said.

Chemicals then will be introduced into the chamber to neutralize the mustard gas. The shell, the neutralized gas and other chemicals will then be taken to a secure disposal facility, Drewen said.

The technology was developed by the Army in conjunction with industry experts and environmental groups, she said.

"It's a good system," she said. "It's all done in a sealed chamber so none of the chemicals ever come in contact with the environment during the operation or after when it is finally disposed of."

Contact Mike Billington at 324-2761 or mbillington@delawareonline.com.