138th Year... and still on the job!	Friday August 5, 2006

Water neutralization successful in Maryland chem demil project

Officials of the Aberdeen Chemical Disposal Facility reported this week that demolition of the Ton Container Cleanout building is more than 50 percent complete.

The Aberdeen project was the first major example of mustard agent destruction by water neutralization done by the Army’Äôs Chemical Materials Agency. A similar process will be used in Pueblo.

The Aberdeen, Md., project destroyed bulk supplies of the chemicals, however. In Pueblo individual mortar rounds and artillery shells will be broken down and the mustard agent treated.

According to a newsletter published this week, Aberdeen workers cleaned and decontaminated emptied containers of mustard agent through an 11-step automated process within the building using highly pressurized hot water and steam to remove residual agent from inside the containers. They safely removed all 11 modules in the conveyor line. The Army now estimates that lower levels of contamination will allow workers to turn off the air handling system that filters air within the building by late summer, sooner than originally scheduled.

- John Norton