Upgrades at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (TOCDF) to test for mercury emissions during the incineration of mustard agent are almost complete officials say. Destruction of mustard should begin within two or three months.

Workers at TOCDF are wrapping up testing and redesigning processes prior to the burning off of nearly 12.5 million pounds of blister agents. The facility, operated by EG&G Defense Materials, Inc., completed the destruction of its entire stockpile of nerve agent in June of 2005. Security checks of employees are also tightening at the base as it prepares to transport munitions containing mustard agent from igloos at Deseret Chemical Depot to the incinerators.

Bulk containers from several of the 208 storage igloos will be transported via truck to the TOCDF. Three processes include burning of explosives, burning of mustard agent and destruction of containers.

"Although the U.S. Army never has used chemical weapons in combat, it is well known human health effects of mustard exposure are not pleasant. Contact with skin or other human tissues will cause severe blistering, and depending on severity of the dose, and availability of treatment, exposure can be fatal," said Gary McCloskey, EG&G general manager. "Our strategy is to focus initial processing operations on the no/low mercury containers."

About 15 to 20 percent of the munitions contain mercury.

"For the first three years we will destroy the mustard with no mercury or low levels of mercury," said Alaine Southworth, public affairs specialist. "We've discovered that some of the bulk containers have a solid layer of sludge or heel in them. After the agent is drained, both the liquid agent and the remaining heels will be process using incineration in separate furnaces," she said.

Lessons learned from a disposal facility on Johnson Island in the Pacific show that draining the solids contained within the ton containers and other munitions is not feasible.

Deseret Chemical Depot is on the closure list published by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). Southworth said the deadline for complete dismantling and recycling of facilities at DCD is now set for 2016.

"If we can complete the mission by as soon as 2012 that would benefit the tax payer, but the deadline has been extended until 2016."

Amy Leetham of the Tooele Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office said there are four furnaces at TOCDF which includes two liquid furnaces, one metal furnace and one deactivation furnace. She said that many people call emissions from the stacks at TOCDF "smoke." What they are seeing is 99.999999 percent steam," she said.

The facility is equipped with a cascading ventilation system that ensures chemical vapors will remain within engineering controls. The deactivated furnace destroys the explosive components using natural gas. Temperature in the furnace is 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. In the munitions bay, liquid agent is drained from the munition bodies. Drained chemical agent is destroyed in an incinerator that hits 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.

No residents complained at a public hearing held by the state Wednesday night at the Tooele County Courthouse to discuss the permitting process for destroying mustard at TOCDF.

e-mail:mwatson@tooeletranscript.com