Chemical Weapons News – March 30

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: Cleanup missions benefit from high-tech experts – Tri-city Herald
This will be another exciting year for Parsons’ Technology Development and Fabrication Complex (TDFC). Since our establishment in the Tri-Cities in 1999, TDFC has been regularly challenged by the departments of Defense and Energy to develop, fabricate and test some of the world’s most innovative and complex machines…

Elite National Guard team trains at Oriskany site – UTICA Observer Dispatch
The makeshift weapons lab was littered with crushed cans and broken glass. And a wading pool in a nearby room stood ready should one of its owners need to decontaminate himself…

Rail Firm Opposes Some Chlorine Shipments – Global Security Newswire
Union Pacific has asked federal regulators to allow the railroad to refrain from transporting chlorine to some specific destinations because of safety concerns…

Report condemns Israel’s phosphorus shell use in Gaza – CNN
The Israeli military’s firing of white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas during the Gaza offensive “was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Wednesday…

Israel accused of indiscriminate phosphorus use in Gaza – the Guardian
Israel’s military fired white phosphorus over crowded areas of Gaza repeatedly and indiscriminately in its three-week war, killing and injuring civilians and committing war crimes…

Controlled burn planned for Newport Depot – the Tribune Star
Vermillion County residents should not be alarmed if they see smoke coming from the southwestern part of the Newport Chemical Depot on Friday or Saturday…

Prairie to burn at Newport Chemical Depot – Chicago Tribune
State forestry officials will conduct a controlled burn of prairie grass at the Newport Chemical Depot, where 275,000 gallons of deadly nerve agent was destroyed under an international treaty…

Porton Down ‘not death sentence’ – BBC
Porton Down veterans used as guinea-pigs to test chemical weapons face no greater risk of dying from cancer but health worries remain…

Depot’s weapons disposal plant a work in progress – Richmond Register
The construction of the chemical weapons disposal plant at the Blue Grass Army Depot has come a long way, but still has a long way to go, according to acting site project manager Ralph Collins…

Sarin Disposal Project Completed at Kentucky Depot – Global Security Newswire
All aspects of a small-scale sarin nerve agent disposal project at the Blue Grass Army Depot have been completed, the U.S. Army announced yesterday…

Simulated attack – Lake County News-Sun
The terrorist was late during a simulated chemical attack drill staged at North Chicago High School on Friday morning to practice coordination between police, fire and Army Reserve units…

Chemical Ali’s victims have waited too long for justice – Daily News
I’ve begun to wonder of late why the worst mass murderer on the planet is still drawing breath, especially as he was sentenced to death years ago, a sentence that was to have been carried out almost as soon as it was imposed…

Also of interest – OPCW Director-General Rogelio Pfirter’s name has been mentioned in the list of potential candidates to head the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):

IAEA Board Fails to Pick New Agency Chief – Global Security Newswire
Neither candidate to become the next head of the International Atomic Energy Agency received the nod this week from the organization’s governing board, opening the door for other aspirants to grab the position…

Nuclear watchdog agency fails to elect new chief – Los Angeles Times
Diplomats meeting in Vienna failed Friday to elect a new leader for the world’s nuclear watchdog agency amid a hardening split between industrial powers and developing countries over how best to control atomic weapons and energy…

Finally on a lighter note:

I love the smell of napalm and soccer in the morning – Denver/Boulder Decider
So here’s my suggestion: call the team Rocky Mountain Arsenal. The Dick is built on the old site of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, which was a chemical weapon manufacturing facility until it closed in 1992. What’s a better way to honor that horrific factory of death than by making opposing teams think they might get napalmed…