Chemical Weapons News August 18

Mustard agent detected at Blue Grass Army Depot – The Richmond Register
Trace amounts of mustard vapor were found Monday inside a chemical agent storage structure or “igloo” that houses mustard agent filled artillery shells at the Blue Grass Army Depot…

Russia Restricts Transparency at Major Chemical Weapons Site, Group Says – Martin Matishak – Global Security Newswire
Russia recently forced an international nonprofit organization to close offices intended to ensure transparency in the operations of one of the country’s largest chemical weapons destruction sites…

Spring Valley weapons search moving to reservoir – Henry Jaffe – The Washington Examiner
Funny how the Army Corps of Engineers keeps unearthing more poisons in Spring Valley. Only it’s not so funny. It’s downright alarming and scary. Last week engineers hired to clean up a pit where the Army buried chemical weapons from World War I dug up a small flask encrusted with mustard gas…

Vial Used for Chemical Agent Mustard Is Uncovered – Michael E. Ruane – The Washington Post
Residue in a laboratory vial found last week in a back yard in Northwest Washington has tested positive for the World War I blistering agent mustard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday…

Loose Mustard Agent Container Uncovered in D.C. Neighborhood – Global Security Newswire
The U.S. Army yesterday said it had found an open container of mustard blister agent buried in a vacant property in an upscale Washington, D.C. neighborhood…

Chemical Weapons Destroyer Named One of Nation’s Safest Worksites – Occupational Health and Safety Magazine
OSHA has presented its highest workplace safety recognition to contractor workers at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (TOCDF), the U.S. Army chemical weapons incinerator complex located at the Deseret Chemical Depot in Tooele, Utah, outside of Salt Lake City…

Russia on Pace to Meet Chemical Disarmament Deadline, General Says – Global Security Newswire
Russia has reported destroying 37 percent of its arsenal of chemical warfare agents…

Iran urges prompt implementation of CWC – The Tehran Times
A senior Iranian official on Saturday called on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) member states to push all other countries, specially the U.S., to implement the convention promptly…

AG rejects Manbar’s request for parole – Haaretz
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz recently rejected a request by Nahum Manbar for an early release from prison. Manbar was convicted in 1997 of selling equipment and know-how to Iran for the manufacture of chemical weapons…

UK MP testifies on ‘genocide’ against Marsh Arabs – Aubrey Belford – AFP
A member of the British House of Lords has described witnessing “genocide” by executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime against Iraq’s Marsh Arabs in the early 1990s. Baroness Emma Nicholson was this week the first foreigner to testify in the Baghdad trial of 42 Iraqis, including Saddam’s hatchet-man “Chemical Ali” Hassan al-Majid…

Chemical Weapons News Aug. 6

India Draws Up Guidelines to Manage Chemical Attacks – Global Security Newswire
India yesterday released guidelines that would be used to prevent or deal with acts of chemical terrorism…

Terrorists can resort to chemical weapons: Antony – The Times of India
Terrorists are getting “more and more aggressive” and can resort to using chemical weapons to cause maximum casualties, defence minister A.K. Antony said on Tuesday, adding that the Indian armed forces will prepare to counter any such attack…

FIRE: Blaze contained at Umatilla chemical weapon depot – The Tri-City Herald
Firefighters contained several lightning-caused fires at the Umatilla Chemical Depot by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The fires, which started about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, burned several thousand of the depot’s 19,729 acres…

1,000s of acres burn at depot – The East Oregonian
Lighting sparked multiple wildfires Tuesday night on the Umatilla Chemical Depot and burned thousands of acres…

South African Politician Alleges WMD-Capable Bomb Sale to Libya – Global Security Newswire
A South African opposition party official on Sunday accused the government of approving the sale of WMD-capable bombs to Libya…

House Approves Funds for U.S. Chemical Weapons Disposal – Global Security Newswire
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved $547 million in fiscal 2010 funding for efforts to finish off destruction of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile…

Army is studying effects of dumping live ammo in sea – Gregg K. Kakesako – The Honolulu Star-Bulletin
For the past two years, the Army has reviewed more than 2 million documents under a congressional mandate to pinpoint and determine the effects of dumping of chemical and conventional weapons into the ocean — which was banned in 1972…

Maliki vows justice for Kurd gas victims – Press TV
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said that he will bring to justice Saddam Hussein’s aides who ordered chemical attacks on Kurdish villages in 1988…

180 lose jobs at Newport – The Danville Commercial-News
bout 180 workers will lose their jobs at the end of September at the Newport Chemical Depot, according to a press release. The workers are employed by Parsons Corp., the Army contractor that built, operated and now is dismantling the facility where more than 1,200 tons of chemical agent VX was destroyed…

Funding could accelerate demil process at depot: Defense bill passes House, goes to Senate – Ronica Shannon – The Richmond Register
The 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill passed Friday by the U.S. House of Representatives includes funding to accelerate chemical weapons disposal at the Blue Grass Army Depot…

Weapons disposal funds approved – Lexington Herald-Leader
Funds to accelerate the disposal of the chemical weapons stored at Kentucky’s Blue Grass Army Depot were included in the defense spending bill that the U.S. House of Representatives passed on Thursday…

Israel admits white phosphorus use – Al Jazeera English
Israel has admitted to using white phosphorus during its war on the Gaza Strip earlier this year, but says it did so in accordance with international law…

Whistle blower was right – The Lexington Herald-Leader
The Army must reassure the Blue Grass Army Depot’s workers and neighbors that the atmosphere for employees who raise safety concerns is not as toxic as the stuff they’re guarding…

Russia’s Maradykovsky Facility Destroys First Ton of Sarin – Global Security Newswire
Russia’s Maradykovsky facility has destroyed one ton of sarin gas, the first of 231 tons of the deadly nerve agent that the site plans to eliminate by the end of the year…

Russia destroys first ton of war gas sarin – ITAR-TASS
The first ton of the warfare gas sarin was destroyed at the chemical weapons destruction facility Maradykovsky in the Kirov region. “The destruction of this substance, which is a nerve agent, was launched on July 27, and more than 1,100 kilograms of sarin has already been destroyed so far,”…

Depot hit by fire, chemical weapons leak – Tri-City Herald
Both a brush fire and an unrelated leak of mustard chemical agent vapor inside a storage igloo were reported at the Umatilla Chemical Depot Monday. At no time did the public appear to be in danger…