Weapons plant to be smaller than planned
By Ronica Brandenburg/Register News Writer

The Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board (CDCAB) met Tuesday to receive updates about the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant, the status of M55 rocket separation to prevent fires and disposal methods for hazardous wastes.

The facility's design must be 60 percent complete by February 2006 and is meant to reduce costs and speed the process of destroying chemical weapons. About 800 employees will be needed once the facility is constructed.

The previous plant design called for 99,000 square feet; however, the redesign has decreased the size to about 69,000 square feet.

The current cost for the plant is estimated at approximately $2 billion.

Changes also are being considered regarding the disposal methods of M55 rockets.

Recent fires at two chemical weapons disposal facilities in the United States may change the way Blue Grass Army Depot officials choose to dispose the rockets.

Three fires have occurred while processing rockets at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Oregon and two have occurred during the same process at the Pine Bluff facility in Arkansas.

The incidents stem from the destruction of M55 rockets containing GB nerve agent, which also are stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot. Weapons disposal has not yet begun at the depot, however, the rockets will be destroyed first.

Rockets are being destroyed at Arkansas and Oregon sites by a robotic processing machine that drains the nerve agent from the rocket and then cuts it into eight pieces. No humans come into contact with the rockets during this process and all action is monitored on a closed-circuit television.

Members of Bechtel-Parsons Blue Grass, the government's contractor for the future demilitarization site at the depot, are evaluating the effectiveness of separating rocket warheads (which contain nerve agent) and motors (which contain propellant) during the demilitarization process.

"We're going to make it stronger and cut back on the pressure," said Jim Fritsche, site project manager for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative (ACWA). "We see the challenges, but it's something that we can do."

The proposal for rocket destruction will include a different cutting approach called rotary cutting. The rocket is placed on a cutting table that rotates the rocket. It will be cut with a blade much like that of a large pipe cutter.

It is being proposed that the cut be made in the threaded area between the warhead and the rocket propellant.

Another issue being studied is the destruction of hydrolysates - chemical residue that is a result of neutralization - at an off-site location.

ACWA officials will consider identifying commercial facilities that are legally able and willing to process the wastes, determine the costs benefits and information associated with risks and develop a comprehensive plan of action.

Members of the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG) based in Berea oppose the off-site shipment and recommended to ACWA that all agents and hydrolysates be treated on site by using super critical water oxidation (SCWO).

This decision was based on several factors, including the historical and current controversy associated with transportation of such waste through communities, significant uncertainties surrounding the capability to safely transport such waste and the negative local economic impact of off-site versus on-site treatment.

SCWO involves cooking the nerve agents with high temperatures and pressures. It leaves behind a salt that will be taken to a hazardous waste landfill.

"While we feel confident that that system will destroy hydrolysates, that has never been proved at a production level," Fritsche said. "That's why we are a pilot plant."

A letter was sent last Thursday to the Assistant Secretary of the Army, Claude M. Bolton, by CWWG Director Craig Williams along with several representatives of citizens' groups in Indiana and New Jersey, expressing their discontentment with the Army's suggestion and reasoning that supported its stance.

"Despite its repeated assertion that shipping the hydrolysates for off-site treatment will be cheaper than on-site disposal, the Army has yet to provide any evidence to that effect," the letter states. "As time goes on, the Army's hydrolysates shipment plan only draws greater criticism and opposition from chemical weapons stockpile communities as well as the residents in the proposed reception communities."

Williams claims that transporting the waste off site to a commercial treatment facility is money wasted, especially when there is already a Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) unit already located at the depot in Newport, Ind.

The unit could be transported to the Blue Grass Army Depot when the weapons are demilitarized, therefore eliminating the need to transport the waste.

Plans for the SCWO processing building are due Nov. 18.

A study team comprised of representatives from ACWA, Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass and the Blue Grass Army Depot have concluded that treating the chemicals off site would reduce costs; however, the community stakeholder position is strongly opposed to this process, said Jim Richmond, risk management team leader for ACWA.

Completed negotiations on the plan's redesign is due in November.

The next meeting of the Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board will be conducted from 1-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, in the Perkins Building on Eastern Kentucky Univer-sity's campus.

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