Published: October 02 , 2008

Study: Weapons waste can be safely moved

Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer

Waste left over from chemical weapons disposal at the Blue Grass Army Depot is safe to ship off-site, according to a study released Monday from the National Research Council (NRC) committee.

The experience to date with the off-site shipment and treatment of mustard and nerve agent hydrolysates from (other chemical weapons disposal sites) indicates that off-site transportation and disposal of these materials is a safe and technically viable course of action, the report states.

There is significant public sentiment, as expressed by the respective Citizens' Advisory Commissions in Kentucky and Colorado as well as other interested groups such as the Berea-based CWWG (Chemical Weapons Working Group), that all contaminated and potentially contaminated wastes should be treated on-site.

The NRC committee concluded that from a technical perspective, the wastes could be shipped off-site without negatively impacting either safety or the environment and could have advantages in terms of disposal program acceleration, including lower investment, a smaller footprint for the facility and a shorter time for closure.

The shipment of certain secondary wastes to suitable off-site destruction facilities could have significant advantages. Among these are savings in facility infrastructure and equipment costs, a smaller footprint for the facility and a shorter time for closure.

"This study deals with the wastes that will be generated as a result of the disposal of the munitions at the two facilities that have yet to be built and placed in operation," the report states. "These wastes are considered to be 'secondary wastes,'; the munitions and agents are themselves considered to be 'hazardous wastes.'"

The Kentucky and Colorado weapons disposal sites will utilize neutralization (hydrolysis) as the basic agent destruction process, followed by different treatments of the product of the neutralization, hydrolysate.

The NRC study is based on estimates of the wastes that will be generated during operations and closures.

The Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant will dispose of munitions containing nerve agents GB or VX, or mustard agent H. These are contained in a variety of munitions, including M55 rockets containing GB or VX.

The Colorado Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant will process projectile munitions that contain only mustard agent HD or HT; no rockets are stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.

The agents and munitions to be destroyed at the Blue Grass Army Depot number approximately 100,000 items, two-thirds of which are M55 rockets.

The 119-page report contained some information about weapons disposal at the Blue Grass Army Depot that was not completely accurate, according to Stephanie Parrett, a representative of the Blue Grass Army Depot Outreach Office in Richmond.

"The phrase, 'Destruction of GB, or sarin, is set to be complete by the end of the year because those containers have repeatedly leaked,' leaves the impression that the entire stockpile of GB will be eliminated by the end of 2008 and is not accurate," Parrett said.

The Program Manager Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA), in collaboration with the Blue Grass Army Depot and Blue Grass Chemical Activity, has initiated Operation Swift Solution to destroy three deteriorating steel containers holding nerve agent GB (sarin) and its breakdown products, she said.

The destruction of these three steel containers and their contents is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant facility will destroy the remainder of the chemical weapons stockpile at the Blue Grass Army Depot, which consists of rockets and projectiles containing GB (sarin), VX and mustard. The pilot plant is under construction and is scheduled to begin chemical weapons destruction operations in 2017. Department of Defense and ACWA leadership continue to assess options for accelerating this schedule.

A link to the full NRC report can be accessed at www.pmacwa.army.mil.

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