Non-Stockpile Chemical Weapons Citizens Coalition
Spring 2000
Non-stockpile chemical weapons are, in brief, the Army's discarded materiel from decades of
chemical warfare production and testing and can be found at hundreds of locations in over
30 states. Military testing with chemical agents has included air agent dispersion tests,
detonation of chemical-filled munitions, field training of soldiers, and many other
activities. For several decades, damaged or outdated weapons and other testing items were
burned, dumped and otherwise improperly disposed of on land and in the water. By the
1960s, when testing activities declined, hundreds of sites were contaminated.
The Non-Stockpile Chemical Weapons Citizens Coalition ( Coalition) was formed in 1998 as
a national grassroots network of citizens and organizations promoting environmental
justice and military accountability in the recovery, storage and disposal of non-stockpile
chemical weapons. The Coalition wants to ensure that the Army does not repeat the
mistakes of the past by destroying chemical weapons with unnecessary, unsafe methods.
Military base installation commanders, the Army Corps of Engineers and other military
agencies and contractors are responsible for recovering non-stockpile items. But the
disposal of this non-stockpile materiel is the responsibility of the Army's Non-Stockpile
Chemical Materiel Program (NSCMP).
Non-stockpile chemical weapons pose unique disposal challenges. They can be found in
varying quantities, in good or bad condition, with or without explosives, and containing
one of several types of dangerous chemical agents. Since the Army's non-stockpile disposal
program was founded in the early 1990s, it has dealt with recovered chemical weapons by
either destroying them on-site, storing them on-site in an "interim holding facility" or by
shipping them to another storage site pending disposal. U.S. ratification of the Chemical
Weapons Convention, an international treaty mandating destruction of chemical weapons,
pressured the NSCMP to develop transportable technologies to destroy non-stockpile
weapons. Below are some of these technologies.
| Technology | Purpose | Method | Status |
|
Rapid Response System |
Treatment of chemical agent identification sets (CAIS), used for training soldiers in chemical warfare. | A 3-gallon stainless steel "mixer" in a contained glovebox with carbon filters is used to crush glass vials and mix chemical agent with a neutralizing solution. | Operations are scheduled to begin in Spring 2000 with CAIS currently stored at the Deseret Chemical Depot, Utah. |
|
Munitions Management Device - 1 |
Treatment of small non-explosive non-stockpile chemical weapons like projectiles | Chemical munitions are drilled, drained of agent and rinsed with decontamination solution. Air in the closed-loop system is circulated through a carbon bed to remove airborne chemical agent. | Operations may begin in Summer 2000 using materiel stored at the Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah. |
|
Emergency Destruction System |
Used for the treatment of chemical weapons deemed as too unstable to be stored or transported. | Munitions are placed inside a sealed explosion vessel and detonated. Neutralizing chemicals are added to the vessel to decontaminate agent. | Small-scale tests are currently being conducted in the United Kingdom. Full-scale operations scheduled for 2002. |
Although the NSCMP has stated its intention to move away from using the incineration
technology, it currently plans on using incineration to destroy residuals from the primary
disposal technologies. The Coalition is firmly opposed to incineration of both non-
stockpile chemical weapons and their residual wastes. We are actively encouraging the
Army to continue the search for safer advanced technologies for each stage of the disposal
process, and to create an open process by which these technologies can be evaluated and
implemented.
Several advanced disposal technologies exist which may be inherently safer than
incineration, and which may be appropriate for destruction of non-stockpile chemical
weapons or residuals. In 1996, a federal program called the Assembled Chemical Weapons
Assessment (ACWA) was created to identify and demonstrate non-incineration chemical
weapons disposal technologies. So far, two ACWA technologies have successfully been
demonstrated, and another three technologies (those marked with an asterisk in the chart
below) will begin demonstrations in June 2000.
No technology is risk-free, and any technology will produce some excess wastes. However,
technologies like those listed below can contain by-products rather than emitting them
into the environment as does incineration. What by-products can't be recycled are
captured and only released into the environment when proven safe. That "containment"
capability is more protective of public health and the environment than the incineration
process.
| Vendor | Disposal Process | Process Description |
| General Atomics | Supercritical Water Oxidation | Oxidation of waste material with oxygen in the presence of supercritical water (water around 800°C and pressure of approx. 3,500 lbs per sq. inch). |
| Parsons/Honeywell |
Hydrolysis and biological treatment |
Chemical agent is reacted with water including sodium hydroxice pH adjustments, then exposed to biological treatment. |
| AEA Technology * | Electrochemical Oxidation | Ions are used to oxidize the waste material in solution. An electro-chemical cell is used to maintain a supply of the oxidizing ions. |
|
Eco Logic and Foster Wheeler * |
Hydrolysis and Gas Phase Chemical Reduction |
(See above description of hydrolysis.) Chemical reduction of waste molecules takes place using hydrogen gas. |
| Teledyne Commodore * |
Solvated Electron Technology |
Metallic sodium in liquid anhydrous ammonia produces electrons, which are dissolved in the anhydrous ammonia, breaking chemical bonds in the waste. |
Under separate contracts with Mitretek and Stone & Webster, NSCMP is assessing which
advanced non-incineration technologies -- including the ACWA technologies listed above --
could be used in place of incineration for disposal of residual wastes and other non-
stockpile materiel.
Even if you don't live near a non-stockpile chemical weapons site, you can help promote
safe disposal of non-stockpile materiel, and citizen involvement in the decision-making
process. The Non-Stockpile Chemical Weapons Citizens Coalition network extends all
across the country, and we want to work with you! For more information on Coalition
activities, non-stockpile locations, disposal technologies and much more, contact:
Elizabeth Crowe
Non-Stockpile Chemical Weapons Citizens Coalition
PO Box 467
Berea, KY 40403
(606) 986-0868 fax: (606) 986-2695 email: kefcrowe@acs.eku.edu web site: www.cwwg.org
 CWWG Home Page |
Contact us: Chemical Weapons Working Group Kentucky Environmental Foundation P.O. Box 467 Berea, KY 40403 phone: 859-986-7565 fax: 859-986-2695 For comments about this WWW page contact Lois Kleffman. |