136th Year... and still on the job!	Wednesday August 31, 2005

Crews seek leak source at depot

By JOHN NORTON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

A chemical crew entered one of the Pueblo Chemical Depot's igloos Tuesday to try to locate a leaking weapon.

After a monitoring system showed low levels of mustard agent inside the igloo for three days, workers donned protective gear and wrapped all the rounds inside the storage unit in plastic so that they could be separately monitored.

Chemical Depot spokeswoman Marilyn Thompson said that because of previous leak detections, every round in that particular bunker was already stored in metal containers.

The igloos are earth-covered bunkers where 780,000 mustard agent artillery shells and mortar rounds are stored.

When the door to the igloo is opened, a charcoal filtered pump is used to create negative pressure so air does not escape as the crew enters, she said.

There are about 15 members of the chemical crew trained to handle the weapons directly. They are backed up by a larger number of workers outside the igloo when work is done on the weapons.

Because of the heat generated in the suits, especially on hot days, the workers may only be in the igloos for a limited amount of time, but managed to get the entire job done Tuesday, she said.

When the leaking container is located, it will be placed in a more secure single-round container to await eventual disposal.

Only a small number of rounds stored at the depot have caused problems. Most will be destroyed when a chemical demilitarization plant is built. Leaking rounds will be handled separately.