Environmental group wants better weapons sensors

By JOHN NORTON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

A national watchdog agency monitoring the destruction of chemical weapons on Tuesday urged the Army to install state of the art chemical sensors at all bases where weapons are stored.

The Chemical Weapons Working Group is made up of a number of community groups, including the Pueblo area Sierra Club chapter, which was one of the leaders in a successful effort to avoid incineration of the 2,600 tons of mustard agent shells stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. The mustard agent here will instead have a water-based method to break down the chemicals.

The CWWG was critical of the systems used now at bases, especially those using incinerators, saying that the sensors used don't give enough warning of problems and that better equipment is available.

Air monitoring has not been an issue in Pueblo. The mustard agent rounds are kept sealed in about 100 earth-covered igloos. Depot spokeswoman Marilyn Thompson said that the igloos are regularly checked using a gas chromatograph in a van that moves through the area. Using hoses that attach to taps in the igloo walls, the air inside the structures is tested to see if any rounds are leaking. If they are, workers secure the igloos and remove the damaged shells.

The air around the igloos and the depot is not monitored because the igloos are considered strong enough to contain any leaks. It will be at least four years before any shells are removed from the igloos and transported to the destruction facility.

Pueblo Chemical Depot commander Lt. Col. John Becker said it has not been determined how the area will be monitored once that work begins.

In a statement, officials of the CWWG charged that with existing systems at other bases, it takes too long to warn the surrounding community when accidents occur and in some cases sensors have failed. They said that better equipment is being used in Iraq.

"If chemical agent was released this minute at any of the sites," they said, "it could take up to 12 hours before the community knew about it - that is simply not reasonable - and we demand better.

"Today, the U.S. is spending billions in Iraq, based on the perceived threat to Americans posed by Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) we now know don't exist. But right here at home millions of Americans are at risk from our own WMDs - while the government drags its feet on deploying adequate monitors to protect its citizens - and the Army says it can't afford such capabilities."