THURSDAY  February 26, 2004

Worker OK after mishap

A worker wearing protective clothing punctured a glove while moving a hazardous waste drum inside a toxic area at Deseret Chemical Depot in Stockton, an official said Tuesday.
   
The worker was moving the container that was used to collect hazardous materials when a metal sliver on the drum punctured the protective glove and the worker's hand, said depot spokeswoman Alaine Southworth.
   
After the worker and another employee in the area underwent decontamination procedures, the injured worker reported to the plant's medical facility for observation.
   
Southworth said the worker showed no signs of VX agent symptoms and reported back to his post.
   
The depot, about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, has destroyed 45 percent of the nation's largest stockpile of chemical weapons.
   
The destruction campaign started in 1996 when a plant incinerator began burning the depot's 13,616 tons of chemical warfare agents in accord with international treaties signed by more than 200 countries.