Last of chemical items at Dugway destroyed

After months spent working in late-night summer heat, the Explosive Destruction System (EDS) crews has processed the last of 22 recovered chemical items at Dugway Proving Ground.

According to the Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Program’s (NSCMP) Operations Group Leader Dave Hoffman, the last sarin-filled bomblet process on Sept. 23, 2004 meant more to the EDS crew than most realized. The crew dedicated the munition to the late Monte Caldwell, a safety engineer who worked with the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency at nearby Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, and who also had worked at Dugway Proving Ground. Caldwell, 44, died at his Utah home on Sept. 11 after a battle with cancer.

“I am sure Monte would celebrate this accomplishment, just as we are today,” said Hoffman. “This is a classic example of how the Army and the State of Utah have worked together to treat and destroy these recovered chemical items.”

EDS, a mobile treatment system, designed and owned by NSCMP, has operated at DPG since July 18. Teams from the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center have used the system to treat thirteen 75mm mustard mortars, two sarin bomblets and seven containers of distilled sulfur mustard.

Hoffman said Dugway Proving Ground safely stored these items since the 1980s. The items were fired on DPG ranges during chemical warfare testing during World War I and World War II.

NSCMP Acting Product Manager Bill Brankowitz congratulated the EDS crew on its abilities to handle an EDS first – the only time the system has been used to destroy both 105mm artillery gas projectiles and an M125 bomblet. He also praised the crew for safely handling a number of leaking munitions, including a 4.2 inch mortar that was deemed unsafe to remove from its protective overpack. After research by Sandia National Laboratories and a special review by a CMA risk management team, the mortar and its overpack were placed in the EDS and simultaneously destroyed.

The EDS team received numerous compliments from the Utah’s Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste. Dugway Proving Ground officials awarded the team a plaque and the commander’s coin of excellence.
“Congratulations to all who worked on this project,” said Hoffman. “The late hours and desert heat took its toll, but when you have a dedicated crew like we had, they all worked toward the common goal of safely eliminating these dangerous chemical warfare items.”

The EDS is scheduled to treat a 75 mm mustard munition discovered in Delaware in July. The munition is stored at Dover Air Force Base until the EDS mission in late October.
Future operations include activities in Pine Bluff, Ark., where more than 1,200 rounds are scheduled for treatment in a multi-year project.

The Army is committed to the accurate assessment and classification of recovered suspect chemical warfare materiel, and maximum protection of workers and the public through compliance with all applicable environmental rules and regulations.

The EDS uses an explosion and vapor containment chamber to detonate a munition. It then neutralizes the chemical agent inside the airtight chamber. Army officials ship the remaining liquid and fragments to permitted commercial disposal facilities.

Headquartered at the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., NSCMP treats chemical warfare materiel recovered on military installations or formerly used defense sites in a safe, environmentally sound and cost-effective manner.

Since 1999, NSCMP built a solid performance and safety record with the EDS through successful missions including Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Commerce City, Colo., the former Camp Sibert in Gadsden, Ala., and extensive testing overseas at Porton Down, United Kingdom. In the summer of 2003, NSCMP used the EDS to successfully treat 15 World War I-era 75 mm projectiles, which also contained mustard agent, recovered at a burial site in the Spring Valley area of northwest Washington, D.C.

NSCMP leads the nation in the development and use of advanced technology to safely eliminate America’s non-stockpile chemical materiel in an environmentally sound and cost-effective manner. A division of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency, NSCMP researches and develops treatment options and operates systems that comply with all federal, state and local regulations, and encourages public participation in its activities. For additional information visit the CMA Web site at http://www.cma.army.mil