After all, these are OLD chemical weapons -- weapons dating back to the Cold War and therefore clearly old enough that they must be degraded beyond use and not a threat to anyone.
The Army has begun draining and incinerating thousands of containers of mustard gas held in storage at a facility in the Utah desert.The project at the Deseret Chemical Depot, begun Friday, will last six to 10 years. It involves burning about 6,200 tons of liquid blister agent and is complicated by the presence of an estimated 800 pounds of toxic mercury.
At one time, the depot housed more chemical weapons than any other U.S. storage site. To comply with the international Chemical Weapons Convention, the U.S. government began weapons destruction there in 1996.
The destruction of the mustard gas is the final phase in the project.
Mustard gas, which is a liquid at room temperature, causes severe blisters, internal and external bleeding, and strips mucous membranes from airways.
Workers will first drain and incinerate the 1-ton mustard gas containers, depot spokeswoman Alaine Southworth said. They will also design and install filters to scrub mercury from the exhaust, she said.
So would someone explain to me why American chemical weapons must be disposed of so carefully? Are these some sort of super-weapons that contain speacial chemicals not bound by the same laws of physics that operate in Iraq? Is this program simply a government boodoggle, putting an expensive piece of pork in someone's home state?
Or is it perhaps teh case that these weapons are still dangerous WMDs -- and that the ones found in Iraq are ALSO live, dangerous WMDs that prove that Saddam Hussein was not in compliance with his UN obligations?
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Scott Ritter and Hans Blix have already outlined that he was in compliance. Further, Bush's policy was a done deal as the Downing Street Memo shows.afterdowningstreet.org
Ray McGovern embarrassed Rumsfeld (the Olmert of the US,perhaps even by the siteowner's lights) a couple months ago, quoting a Rummy pre-war assurance at a public confrontation as to where a large number of WMDs would be found and what they were. None were. These liars expected a quick easy win and a public which didn't care if WMDs were found,as long as big bad (and 9/11 complicit) Saddam was overthrown.
Empty chairs at the Hague?
|| Posted by Ken Hoop, August 20, 2006 12:48 PM ||But how can that be -- either the weapons were non-operational or they weren't. And if they were inert, so are these and we can just dispose of them in Ken's local garbage dump because they are safe.
|| Posted by Rhymes With Right, August 20, 2006 02:10 PM ||These weapons are being destroyed because they are old and obsolete. The destruction facility is operated under stringent safety and security requirements in accordance to Department of Defense requirements, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act environmental permit. Oversight for the permit falls under the Utah Department of Environmental Quality http://www.hazardouswaste.utah.gov/HWBranch/CDSection/ChemicalDemilSection.htm. In addition, the United States is required to destroy its chemical stockpile under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty (see www.opcw.org). For more information, please see below.
M. Morales
FACILITY TO LAUNCH LAST MAJOR
CHEMICAL DESTRUCTION CAMPAIGN
DESERET CHEMICAL DEPOT, STOCKTON, Utah -- The first mustard agent-filled munition punched and drained today signaled the beginning of the last major destruction campaign at the U.S. Army's Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility at Deseret Chemical Depot (DCD).
There are nearly 6,194 tons of mustard agent stored mostly in bulk containers at the remote depot located 60 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, a percentage of which are known to contain trace amounts of mercury.
Sampling operations currently underway are characterizing the content of individual bulk containers (each containing approximately 1,800 pounds of chemical agent) to identify those with little to no mercury. Initial processing will begin with containers that have low mercury and low heel (thickened sludge and sediment) content.
During this first year and a half, workers will design and install special filters for the furnace pollution abatement systems. The addition of these sulfur-impregnated carbon filters will remove mercury from exhaust gases generated when containers determined to contain elevated concentrations of mercury are processed at a later date.
This is the largest chemical agent destruction campaign that the Army will undertake to eliminate aging stockpiles and meet the nation's commitment under the global Chemical Weapons Convention. The event coincides with the 10th anniversary of the start of operations at the facility.
"Our workforce is proud to be a part of this legacy," said Col. Frederick Pellissier, DCD commander, ”and we are committed to working towards creating a safer tomorrow for this great nation.”
Ted Ryba, TOCDF Site Project Manager added, “We have already safely eliminated 7,409 tons of chemical agent and more than one million munitions, reducing the risk to the community and the environment by more than 99 percent."
"We are privileged to be part of our nation’s initiatives to eliminate chemical weapons world wide,” said Gary McCloskey, EG&G Defense Materials Vice President and Technical Director. “We will not only be destroying the largest single agent stockpile in the United States, but will set operational precedents and providing lessons learned necessary to simplify the mustard destruction planning process for others"
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The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) with headquarters at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., stores the nation's aging chemical weapons and develops programs aimed at effectively treating and ultimately eliminating chemical warfare materiel. For more information about CMA and its programs, visit www.cma.army.mil.
|| Posted by M. Morales, August 21, 2006 12:03 PM ||So let's clarify -- they are not WMDs and considered safe when they are found in Iraq, but dangerous and in need of special handling in the USA. I wonder how that can be -- must be special rules of chemical and physics.
|| Posted by Rhymes With Right, August 21, 2006 01:46 PM ||Post a comment