Recent CW News

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Newport VX Destruction important for State and National Security – Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-Indiana)
On August 8, the last drops of the 1,269 tons of deadly VX nerve agent were destroyed at the Newport (Indiana) Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. This is a signal achievement …

Chemical weapon depots look to weapon-less future – Associated Press – The Chicago Tribune
During the Cold War, the Pine Bluff Arsenal held the secrets of the nation’s stockpile chemical and biological weapons against prying Soviet eyes. Now, arsenal commander Col. Bill Barnett worries about disclosing how many gas masks and mortar rounds …

Preparing for an urban WMD attack – CNET News
On Saturday, the San Francisco Fire Department, along with a group of other public and private agencies, ran a large-scale training exercise revolving around an urban weapons of mass destruction terrorist attack. …

Bay region drills for theoretical chemical attack on downtown San Francisco – San Francisco Sentinel
Multi-agency weapons of mass destruction drills are conducted on a regular basis in San Francisco, – each time with challenging new scenario – drawn from …

SF Police & Fire hold terrorism drill – ABC 7 News, San Francisco
The scene was the aftermath of a chemical attack in a downtown high rise- luckily this was only a drill. “Each time we do this the better off all of us are …

Firms in defence export breaches – The Canberra Times
Seventeen breaches involved the export of chemicals which are regulated because they could be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons, explosives or …

Decisions about incineration of toxic substances not taken lightly – Statesman Journal
Protecting Oregon’s environment is the mission of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon Environmental Commission. Nowhere is that more critical than at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, where it is …

VX Destroyed At Newport Depot – Chemical & Engineering News
The last container of VX nerve agent of the Newport, Ind., chemical weapons stockpile has been destroyed. “Newport’s stockpile has been safely eliminated, which brings the U.S. one step closer to …

Newport finishes VX destruction – Indianapolis Star
An Army contractor has finished three years of work on destroying a deadly nerve agent stored in western Indiana and is now moving ahead to dismantle the equipment built for the billion-dollar project, officials said today. The final container of VX nerve agent …

OPCW Director-General Extends Condolences Upon the Death of Mr Ian Kenyon – OPCW Press Release
The Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, has expressed his deep condolences on the passing away of Mr Ian Kenyon the former Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for OPCW, from 1993 to 1997. …

Neutralization vs Incineration

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The debate over how to destroy old CWs – incineration or neutralization – is continuing this summer in Oregon over how the Umatilla Chemical Depot should proceed with destruction of its mustard stockpile. This issue has been ongoing for several years with some facilities using incinerators and others neutralizing agents. Environmental groups argue that mercury in the mustard is not destroyed by incineration and is also not sufficiently removed by filters. Its release into the environment would contaminate the water of the surrounding community. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Quality Commission are holding public meetings in July and August before they decide on what will be the best course to move forward with CW destruction at the Depot.

CW Destruction News

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

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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.

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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.

Chemical Weapons News – June 27, 2008

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This week the Pine bluff Arsenal announced that it had finished destroying all VX-filled land mines. This marks the complete destruction of all nerve agent at the facility, and the final phase of CW disposal will focus on containers of mustard gas.

Pine Bluff Arsenal Completes Destruction Of Nerve Agent – The Morning News
The final nerve agent-filled land mine has been destroyed at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, moving the site a step closer to eliminating stockpiled chemical weapons, officials said Monday …

Ark. military arsenal finishes weapons destruction – The Associated Press – Forbes.com
A simple message in white paint adorned the last VX nerve-agent land mine that rolled through a conveyor belt on its way to incineration at the Pine Bluff Arsenal – “LONG TIME COMING.” …

All Explosives Destroyed At Pine Bluff Arsenal – TodaysTHV.com
The Pine Bluff Arsenal says it has finished destroying chemical weapons. Officials held a news conference Monday morning announcing they destroyed their last land mine last Friday. The arsenal has destroyed more than …

Also, Yemen showed its commitment to the CWC and held a course on chemical weapons, the CWC, the OPCW and the role of Yemen’s national authority in implementing the convention.

Finally, Iran released a statement calling on the international community to pressure the U.S. and other major powers to fulfill their obligations in CW disarmament. The statement was released in commemoration of Iran’s National Day Against Chemical/Biological Weapons.