Incineration is the only method being considered for destroying more than 6,400 tons of mustard agent at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (TCDF) according to a senior executive for the U.S. Army at TCDF.

"We were built as an incineration facility. To retrofit or to build a new facility would unnecessarily prolong the storage of the mustard agent stockpile and cost hundreds of millions of dollars," said Ted Ryba, government site project manager and senior executive for the Army at TCDF. "Plus we are constantly in contact with state officials. Based on cost effectiveness and keeping in mind the obligation to protect human health, any other method is not the feasible thing to do."

The TCDF burner facility within the Deseret Chemical Depot 12 miles south of Tooele.

Ryba responded to comments today from Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL) which sounded the alarm that TCDF will soon be releasing levels of mercury and other toxins into the air that are unsafe and unacceptable.

The chemical weapons incineration plant is in the process of obtaining new permits from the State of Utah as it transfers its operation from burning nerve agent to burning mustard blister agent.

"The Army's mustard agent incineration plan involves a significant departure from the original plans presented to state regulators and community members," states a press release from HEAL. "Since the Army is unable to adequately drain mustard agent from the munitions and containers which hold the agent, the Army plans to simply feed the excessive qualities into an incinerator unit that was not designed for that purpose."

The environmental group would prefer that the Army use a neutralization method to destroy the agents. "Neutralization is a safe, proven method for destruction of mustard agents. Its low temperatures prevent the formation of dioxins, and heavy metals like mercury can be segregated from the waste stream and not released into the air," reads the press release.

Neutralization was used by the Army to destroy a mustard agent stockpile in Aberdeen, MD.

"The overall mustard campaign will start with a detailed test of 100 percent sampling of each ton container. Each ton container will be analyzed prior to bringing it to the plant. Not all the mustard has mercury in it. I would estimate that only 15 percent of the mustard has mercury. We will also install a filtration unit on the furnace unit. It will be designed so that in the process we keep mercury emissions below the allowed limits," Ryba said. The sampling process is scheduled to begin in May.

Environmentalists state that mercury emissions are creating major problems in the United States. "EPA data shows 16 percent of U.S. newborns, or about one in six, may be victims to mercury poisoning," according to the press release.

Jason Groenewold, director of HEAL, said the Army's plan to pass mercury emissions standards by simply reducing the amount of mustard agent, such as the Army's plan to pass mercury emissions standards by simply reducing the amount of mustard agent that is incinerated in an hour, which is how the mercury limits are currently imposed, is troubling.

"This approach doesn't prevent mercury from getting into the air, it just spreads it out over a longer period of time," Groenewold said. "The Army should be required to limit the total amount of mercury it releases into our environment rather than simply being able to emit unlimited quantity over a longer period time."

e-mail:mwatson@tooeletranscript.com