ARMY SEEKS ANSWERS AT PB ARSENAL

By Bobbie Crockett/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Pine Bluff Arsenal officials are trying to determine the cause of the apparent allergic reaction of an Arsenal employee who was treated at a hospital Wednesday.

The 39-year-old from Clinton was released around noon on Thursday from Jefferson Regional Medical Center. The area where the employee was working has been cordoned off.

Officials said the incident was not related to chemical weapons stored at the Arsenal awaiting destruction.

The worker had been doing an inventory of boxes in metal containers used to transport military supplies. The boxes, shipped from Kuwait, were unopened and held charcoal-lined protective suits and other items used by soldiers in the field.

Initially, the Arsenal said the items had been in Iraq, but said a closer check determined that to be incorrect.

One of the Arsenal's missions is to repackage or restore chemical defense items for use by the military, Arsenal Commander Col. Tom Wolosynz said in a press conference Thursday.

The equipment was "never issued to soldiers," he said. "They were stored in a warehouse in Kuwait."

Thursday, Arsenal officials began working to determine what triggered the reactions.

"We are going to be testing the area, talking to the employee further to try to piece this puzzle together and try to find the root cause of this," Woloszyn said. "We expect some results within a week."

The Arsenal worker had finished for the day on Wednesday and had changed into his regular clothes when he began complaining of itching.

The worker developed a rash and had difficulty breathing. He was later transported by ambulance and admitted to JRMC for observation.

His co-worker was not affected and was helping investigators recreate the team's activities on Wednesday.

Jerry Weilacher, industrial hygiene program manager, examined the containers Thursday to try to seek the cause of what officials called an "apparent allergic reaction."

Weilacher said he ruled out organic vapors from fuel from a forklift used to unload the containers.

"We now plan to sample the dust" on and around the containers, he said, adding that there was no sign of a liquid in the area.

Weilacher also said he had contacted the Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine at Aberdeen, Md., to get a team to help investigate.

Two paramedics transporting the worker to JRMC began to itch en route to the hospital. The medical center decontaminated the ambulance workers, the Arsenal employee and the ambulance.

Weilacher said he had handled the clothing of the worker and a doctor and physician's assistant came in fairly close contact with him and had no reaction.

The Arsenal makes, repairs and stores a variety of biological and chemical protection equipment, Woloszyn said.

"It's a major mission for us," he said. "We handle a lot of it."

Woloszyn also said that a lockdown of the Arsenal that occured earlier Wednesday was unrelated to the worker's reaction.

The lockdown, he said, was in response to concerns about some missing items that were later resolved.