More chemical leaks found at depot
By Ronica Brandenburg/Register News Writer

Army officials confirmed Wednesday that two leaking M55 rockets have been detected in a storage igloo at the Blue Grass Army Depot. This is the second instance since May 10 where chemical agent has been detected in an igloo.

The leaks were found by Blue Grass Chemical Activity toxic chemical workers after the leaking rockets detected in May were taken out of the igloo and sealed.

Nerve agent (GB or "sarin") continued to be detected in the igloo after the supposed leaking rockets were removed, said Dick Sloan, public information officer for Blue Grass Chemical Activity.

GB nerve agent is a colorless and odorless liquid that evaporates as fast as water. It is stored inside M-55 rockets and is an inhalation hazard only, but was designed to be very deadly.

Isolation procedures for rockets in the contaminated igloo began Wednesday. This involves sealing each set of pallets in the igloo and leaving them sealed for 24 hours. Workers will later test the air in each pallet to help determine the leaking rockets.

"Once you get it narrowed down to one or two pallets, you can make more minute observations," Sloan said.

The leaking rockets will be permanently sealed so no additional vapors can escape into the atmosphere.

It is standard practice for Blue Grass Chemical Activity laboratory technicians to continue monitoring an igloo after leaking munitions have been found to ensure that all the leaking rounds have been identified.

"We continue to monitor (the igloo) until we have three days of negative readings," Sloan said. "Then you can say this event is over."

Because of the large numbers of leakers from this one particular igloo, it will be monitored every duty day until the destruction of the stockpile is complete, Sloan said.

"We knew that we had not found them all," said Wiley Flynn, a member of the toxic chemical crew who places the leaking rockets in sealed containers. "It was definitely a teamwork situation where the crew and the laboratory technicians worked together. It doesn't take much motivation to do this job well because it's how we keep our community and our families safe."

Wednesday's vapor detection should not be a concern to the community, Sloan said.

"We find them early on in the leak cycle when it's a very small vapor amount," he said. "We never let it leak long enough to be a danger to the community. We have a very robust monitoring program."

There are 49 igloos on the depot and 45 of those contain chemical weapons. Each of the 45 active igloos are monitored daily, and the atmosphere of each igloo is tested before workers enter. The air used in the test is then passed through a gas chromatograph that destroys the sample as it analyzes it, Sloan said.

In order to rid the igloo of the leaking agent, the atmosphere in the igloo is flushed using a high-powered air filter. Once that has been done, workers dressed in protective gear enter the igloo to make a visual inspection.

Depot employees who assisted with securing the leaking rockets include Flynn, Archie Babb, Chris Chasteen and Don Van Winkle.

Ronica Brandenburg can be reached at rbrandenburg@ richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.