Army confirms mustard vapor leak at depot
By Ronica Brandenburg/Register News Writer

Army officials confirmed Wednesday the detection of mustard agent vapors in a chemical weapons storage igloo at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

The small vapors were detected during the first-entry monitoring system. 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.

"We're very happy that we can find them when they're leaking at such low levels," said Dick Sloan, public information officer for the Blue Grass Army Chemical Weapons Activity. "The filter is running to make sure that there's no chance that the small amount of mustard vapor can escape into the atmosphere. We have notified the county and the state and it continues not to be a threat to the community."

Depot officials will have to prepare a work plan that must be approved by the Army before anything can be done inside the igloo, Sloan said.

In order to rid the igloo of the leaking agent, it will be flushed using a high-powered air filter. Once that has been done, workers will dress in protective gear and enter the igloo to make a visual inspection, Sloan said. If the leaking weapon(s) are not found right away, a much more detailed process goes into effect.

Each set of pallets will be covered, sealed-off and left for 24 hours. Then, workers will test the air in each pallet to help determine the leaking rocket.

Mustard agent was developed by the Germans to be used in World War I and was the first agent to be stored at the depot in 1944. It is a blister agent designed to incapacitate rather than kill.

"You can be in a mustard contaminated area and not know it until hours later," Sloan said. "It was meant to create hospital patients in war. If you can tie up your enemies' medical infrastructure, that weakens the whole effort."

Mustard leaks have occurred twice at the depot in 2002 and 2003.

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