FEATURE-Generations
later, U.S. destroys its mustard gas
31 Aug 2006 12:00:37 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Adam Tanner
DESERET CHEMICAL DEPOT, Utah, Aug 31 (Reuters)
- As Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan laid waste to Europe and Asia in
World War II, the United States ramped up production of mustard gas to
respond to any chemical attack.
The Allies never used the
weapons that inflicted so much suffering during World War I, but
America kept them throughout the Cold War as a deterrent.
"Thank
goodness it wasn't used actively during World War II," said Col.
Frederick Pellissier, custodian of the aging stockpile as the commander
of the Deseret Chemical Depot.
"It served its purpose as a deterrent."
Only this month has the United States started to destroy the deadly
mustard gas now outlawed by international treaty. The Army facility
incinerates it at the well-guarded desert complex, which was home to 45
percent of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile before destruction began
a decade ago.
Eight other U.S. sites stored chemical weapons and
are also destroying bombs, missiles, mines and other chemical
munitions. At Deseret, 60 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, the
weapons are buried below truncated pyramid-shaped mounds.
Much
of the round-the-clock process of removing explosive fuses, draining
and then incinerating liquid chemical agents is automated. But workers
in fully enclosed protective chemical suits regularly enter potentially
deadly areas to repair, update and clean.
On a recent day, Rod
Hollum, 51, and Nick Crosby, 27, donned masks, a backpack with an
eight-minute back-up air supply and a white, vinyl suit fully sealed
against the air but linked to outside oxygen.
WILD THINGS
The costume recalls the white animal suit worn by the character Max in
Maurice Sendak's children's story, "Where the Wild Things Are," except
the men look out through large, transparent vinyl windows.
"You're encapsulated inside," said Marc McLaws, a worker who helped
Hollum and Crosby suit up.
"Some people get claustrophobic," he added. "Heat stress is a problem.
You're constantly sweating. You can lose six or seven pounds over the
two hours."
Before the two enter the area of potential exposure,
they receive a briefing. "We either stirred something up, you guys did
cleaning, or there is something," the briefer said about a hose leaking
mustard agent. "Be extremely careful."
In Deseret's decade of
chemical destruction, only one man was exposed to a small amount of
chemical agent in 2002, said medical director Gary Matravers. He
suffered blurred vision but was back at work the next day. "This is a
safe environment; now if we had an explosion, that would be different,"
he said.
About 1,500 people, all but two civilians, work here.
Being completely sealed in vinyl poses other risks. Half a year ago,
one suited worker suffered a heart attack. "We had to cut him out,"
said McLaws, who said tearing through the single-use, $275 suit took
three minutes. "It was a good result though: he lived."
BEHIND SCHEDULE
The United States, which had the second largest chemical stockpile
after Russia, is moving far more cautiously in destroying them than
envisioned in a treaty that entered into force in 1997. The pact set a
2007 deadline, but earlier this year Washington asked for an extension
until 2012.
"If everything had processed as quickly as we
expected, we'd probably be finished right now," Pellissier said. "If it
becomes a safety issue for either the workforce or the public, I'm less
concerned about the treaty requirements."
Within three days of
opening in 1996, the plant closed for checks after a nerve gas leak,
and any whiff of danger since then has delayed the processing.
"We would have gone faster but for the controls, the oversight
conditions," said Thaddeus Ryba, the disposal site project manager. "It
has extended the process."
Also, "conditions of munitions and
the agents weren't what the Army thought it was," he continued. "Things
don't come apart as easily."
Since starting the process in August 1996, the facility
has already destroyed VX and other highly toxic nerve agents.
It did not destroy any chemical weapons for 14 months ending in August
as it revamped to process mustard gas. One problem is the presence of
mercury in some of the mustard gas, which is closely monitored.
"We're very concerned," said Dianne Nielson, executive director of
Utah's Department of Environmental Quality. "We are concerned in the
context that we are watchful ... making sure they follow through and
manage the destruction."
The Healthy Environment Alliance of
Utah complains of safety shortcomings and says incineration is not as
safe as the chemical process of neutralization. "There hasn't been a
culture of safety at the chemical weapons facility," said the group's
director, Vanessa Pierce.
Ryba counters that only a very small
amount of dioxins emerge from the facility's exhaust stacks. "I'm a
government bureaucrat, but I wouldn't put my family at risk," he said.
