News

DISPOSAL OPERATIONS RESUME, VX ROCKETS PROCESSED

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 10:11 AM CDT

Special to the Commercial

The Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (PBCDF) began processing VX rockets during the weekend after a scheduled five-month outage following the elimination of all the GB weapons.

Thursday, the Pine Bluff Chemical Activity (PBCA) safely transported the first enhanced onsite containers (EONCs) carrying VX-filled rockets to PBCDF. The first VX rockets were processed Saturday.

"Now that VX operations are underway, I am pleased that we will continue significantly reducing the storage risk to our community," said Lt. Col. Clifton Johnston, PBCA commander.

During the five-month changeover, PBCDF performed maintenance on facility equipment and processed spent decontamination fluid and secondary waste. Crews both at PBCA and PBCDF participated in training activities.

"We successfully transitioned from the first disposal campaign to the second," said Mark Greer, PBCDF site project manager. "We expect VX rocket processing to progress just as smoothly as we did through GB rocket processing."

VX, like GB, is also a nerve agent. The estimated duration of the VX rocket campaign is approximately six months. The startup of VX rocket processing will be slow and deliberate.

"There's been a lot of hard work to get us to this point and now we have turned our attention to the safe and environmentally compliant disposal of the VX munitions," said David Reber, project general manager for Washington Group International, which built and operates the plant for the Army. "The most important thing is we accomplish this in a safe and environmentally responsible manner."

Following completion of VX rocket disposal operations, there will be a changeover period during which the facility will be made ready for and personnel will be trained in VX landmine disposal operations.

Prior to chemical weapons disposal operations the Pine Bluff Arsenal had safely stored 3,850 tons of chemical agent, 12 percent of the Army's original chemical weapons stockpile, for more than 60 years.