A mustard gas leak at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky was confirmed this week. It is the first mustard leak in 3 years and follows the report of a sarin leak at the same facility earlier this month. The leak is contained and is not a danger to the community or the environment.
Monthly Archives: July 2008
CW Destruction News
Kentucky lawmakers are asking the Army to review safety measures at the Blue Grass Army Depot. The Depot is storing sarin nerve agent until it can be destroyed. In August of 2007 a substantial leak was reported, and earlier this month another small leak was detected.
The Japanese scandal involving destruction of chemical weapons continued this week with a senior Japanese official arrested for tax evasion. He had used 3 ‘dummy firms’ to conceal personal income as consultancy fees paid by the company the official pressured the Japanese Defense Agency to award all of the CW disposal contracts, worth a total of 26.9 billion yen.
News from the OPCW
On July 10 the OPCW Open-Ended Working Group on Terrorism met and invited European Union Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove and Spanish counter-terrorism expert Pedro Ríos Calvo as guest speakers. The Open-Ended Working Group on Terrorism was established in 2001 to examine the OPCW’s contribution to global anti-terrorism efforts.
Also, the Executive Council released a Draft Report of the OPCW on the Implementation of the CWC in 2007 for the consideration and approval of the Conference.
Guardian Report: New US ‘Non-lethal’ Weapon?
Today The Guardian is reporting on a new US Army “non-lethal personal suppression projectile”
Not many details are known about the classified weapon, but the article speculates:
“Experts suggest three possible payloads: an existing riot-control agent, malodorants or a new chemical agent. Existing agents include CS gas and a form of pepper spray. But these seem unlikely choices, because their effects only last minutes, and could wear off before friendly forces arrive. They could also face a legal challenge: the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the use of riot control agents in warfare.”
Transport CW? Part II
A few more articles and editorials appeared this weekend in the wake of USA Today’s July 2 report that the DoD plans to transport CW between facilities to speed up their destruction.
Give it up: Utah won’t accept more chemical weapons – The Salt Lake Tribune
The Pentagon just won’t give up the idea of moving chemical weapons from Colorado to Utah for destruction. Well, forget it. Since 1994, federal law has prohibited moving these weapons across state lines. There’s a good reason. Moving the stuff is …
Critics say Pentagon admits neutralization works – The Salt Lake Tribune
For years, the military has insisted that there is no safer way to destroy its chemical weapons than the incineration process used at the Deseret Chemical Depot. But when the Pentagon floated the idea of moving more chemical weapons to Utah …
Arsenal May Get More Weapons – The Pine Bluff Commercial
The Pine Bluff Arsenal has been so efficient at eliminating stockpiled chemical weapons that the facility is on a Department of Defense list for consideration to receive chemical weapons from other facilities, Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., told the Pine Bluff Commercial …
Report: Weapons can’t be destroyed by 2017 – The Richmond Register
Transporting chemical weapons from the Blue Grass Army Depot to Arkansas and Alabama, as well as halting construction plans for the weapons disposal facility, are just a few among many alternatives the Department of Defense …
Pentagon Weapons Plan Criticized – NewsroomAmerica.com
The Pentagon is being criticized for a plan released to Congress detailing the acceleration of shipments of deadly chemical weapons to various military sites for destruction …
US Public Fears Weapon Transport – Prensa Latina
Department of Defense plans to transport deadly chemicals for disposal on US highways clash with Congress and NGOs that consider it too dangerous. Congress has urged …
Transport CW?
Yesterday’s report in USA Today about the Pentagon’s draft plan to transport CW to other sites for destruction has spawned a series of additional articles.
PB Arsenal to get more to destroy? – Arkansas Democrat Gazette
The Pentagon has drafted a plan to send more of its chemical weapon stockpile to the Pine Bluff Arsenal and three additional disposal sites to meet a 2017 deadline to destroy lethal …
Is Utah a pawn in Pentagon gambit? – Salt Lake Tribune
Although Army officials acknowledge it’s a political non-starter, the Defense Department has resurrected the idea of transporting chemical weapons from Colorado and Oregon to Utah – a practice that has been widely opposed …
Officials hear chem demil plan options – The Pueblo Chieftain
Colorado officials received more information Wednesday on the options for speeding up the destruction of weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. …
Weapons Destruction Will Miss Deadline – The Pueblo Chieftain – RedOrbit.com
The Defense Department agency responsible for weapons destruction programs in Pueblo, and at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, reaffirmed to Congress this week that it is not going to finish the work by a treaty …
Chemical weapons transport plan decried – United Press International
The Pentagon is considering a plan to ship chemical weapons to U.S. military sites to speed up their destruction, a report to Congress indicated. …
Report: Consider moving chemical weapons from Kentucky – McClatchy Newspapers
Destruction of chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot won’t be complete by a government-imposed 2017 deadline unless officials consider other options, including moving chemical weapons to destruction facilities in Alabama and Arkansas …
Critics say Pentagon admits neutralization works – Salt Lake Tribune
For years, the military has insisted that there is no safer way to destroy its chemical weapons than the incineration process used at the Deseret Chemical Depot. …
Pentagon proposal would bring more chemical weapons to Utah – ksl.com
The U.S. Army is considering a plan to ship more chemical weapons, such as nerve agent and mustard gas, to Utah, to be destroyed here. It’s an idea watchdog groups and state regulators appear ready …
Alabama Senator Attempts to Keep Chemical Weapons Away – WBRC – MyFox Birmingham
A Pentagon proposal to bring chemical weapons to Alabama for destruction is under fire from an Alabama Senator. …
Pentagon Plans to Transport Chemical Weapons Across the U.S.
Today an article in USA Today reported that the Department of Defense is planning to transport CW to and from destruction sites in order to speed up the process and meet the 2017 deadline for complete CW stockpile destruction set by Congress. This is already later than the deadline of 2012 mandated by the CWC.
In order for the nerve agents and mustard gas to be transported across state lines, Congress will need to change the laws that prohibit transport of such agents. The plan is being met with opposition by concerned citizen and watchdog groups.