New agent disposal test hinges on hot water

by Jeff Schmerker
Staff Writer

The Army has decided to test an alternative chemical weapons disposal
process at Deseret Chemical Depot.

The process, which would treat VX-filled ton containers, would allow the
agent to be neutralized before it is disposed. That, said Gregory
Mahall, a spokesman for the U.S. Army's Program Manager for Chemical
Demilitarization, will theoretically reduce the risk of terrorism at the
site.

The tests, which will be conducted by the Oquirrh Mountain Facility at
Deseret Chemical Depot, formerly known as the Chemical Agent Munitions
Disposal System, come as the plant is wrapping up its GB agent disposal
operations and moving into a VX campaign.

VX is a highly volatile agent that attacks the nervous system and can
cause a painful and quick death if encountered in sufficient doses.

Mahall said while the alternative disposal method could likely quickly
neutralize large quantities of VX agent, the process is not without its
drawbacks, since it also would apparently create a relatively large
amount of hazardous waste.

In the disposal process, hot water would be injected into the ton
containers, rendering the agent relatively innocuous. The diluted agent
could then be stored while the incinerator continues to process
VX-filled projectiles.

A similar process at an Army stockpile site in Indiana is being credited
with the likelihood of speeding up and cutting the cost of agent
demilitarization there.

Mahall said even though the diluted agent would remain at the base, it
would likely pose less of an attraction to terrorists since it would be
a hazardous waste instead of a full-on chemical agent.

"Especially since Sept. 11, it is on our shoulders to investigate faster
ways to destroy the stockpile," said Mahall. "Their terrorist attack
would be on a hazardous waste, not on ... a pure nerve agent. It would
lessen the risk the stockpile poses in storage, not eliminate it."

So far, said Mahall, the Army is only speculating that the process could
be used in Tooele.

"If it does show promise and does meet the parameters of quicker and
safer (disposal) " I don,t think you can rule anything out," Mahall
said.

The process at Tooele would differ from similar plans in Indiana, said
Mahall, since there a caustic solution was used to aid in the
neutralization. But, he added, the caustic solution was causing
corrosion, and Mahall cautioned that while the tests could produce
positive results, the process could falter when applied in an industrial
setting.

The tests, he said, would use just a few of the depot's 640 bulk
containers, which collectively hold nearly a million pounds of VX.

"We are still pretty early on in the process," said Mahall. "At this
point it is safe to say that even if Utah's dilution process successful,
it is not a total solution. We still need to do a secondary treatment."

News of the testing was applauded by anti-incineration activists.

"We support non-incineration approaches to safely and efficiently remove
the risk that these chemical weapons pose to our community," said Jason
Groenewold, director of Families Against Incinerator Risk. "We expect
the Army will recognize that using the advanced alternatives is the best
solution for destruction of our remaining stockpile."

Groenewold called the dilution process safer, saying the Army "" better
able to control the agent and its byproducts through the disposal
process."

E-mail: jeffs@tooeletranscript.com