Consultant Recommends Delaying in Ohio Chemical Disposal Plan

A U.S. Army contractor should not be allowed to dispose of a chemical weapons destruction byproduct in Montgomery County, Ohio, unless the Army resolves some existing quality control problems, an environmental consultant recommended this week (see GSN, Sept. 18).

County commissioners hired Northwestern University environmental engineering professor Bruce Rittmann to study the safety of the disposal project and a public hearing on the findings is scheduled for today.

Rittmann concluded that defense contractor Perma-Fix should resolve its current odor release and air pollution issues before processing a chemical byproduct of the Army’s effort to neutralize its VX nerve gas stockpile in Newport, Ind.  The company plans to treat the byproduct — hydrolysate — and then transfer the resulting material to the county’s wastewater treatment system.

Rittman’s report also recommends that Perma-Fix begin with small amounts of hydrolysate and increase the volume if the effort proceeds safely.  Rittmann wants the early phases of the process to take place at the Army stockpile in Newport, Ind., to decrease the danger to the nearby Dayton community.

“The real test is how they respond to this input and whether they can take a constructive approach,” Rittmann said of defense officials.  “If they think they can’t improve on it, maybe they need (to take) another path,” he added.

The Montgomery County commissioners voted against the Army’s plan in June, but there is a chance the Pentagon could push forward with the disposal work anyway (Jim Debrosse, Dayton Daily News, Oct. 5).

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Russian Needs $5 Billion for Chemical Weapons Destruction

The destruction of Russia’s remaining stockpile of chemical weapons will cost $5 billion, according to a report released yesterday by Moscow’s federal ammunition agency (see GSN, Sept. 19).

The report, which was submitted to Russian officials, termed the chemical disarmament program “unique in scale and political importance.”

Moscow has so far destroyed 1 percent of its stockpile, and intends to eliminate all chemical weapons stores by 2012 (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Oct. 2).

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Australia Holds Terrorism Drills Ahead of Rugby World Cup

Australian security officials staged a simulated cyanide attack on a Brisbane passenger train Tuesday as part of an exercise in advance of the Rugby World Cup (see GSN, Sept. 9).

“About 100 people posing as passengers on their way to the match were evacuated and placed in the care of paramedics and health workers,” Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie said.  “The train was secured and the surrounding area evacuated,” he added.

Officials are conducting a week-long security exercise that features simulated chemical, biological and radiological terrorist attacks on Brisbane.  The drills are due to conclude tomorrow (IAfrica.com, Sept. 30).

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Officials Discover Leaking Mustard Agent at Tooele

U.S. Army officials at a storage site in Utah this week discovered two leaking mustard agent chemical containers, according to Army spokesman Chuck Sprague (see GSN, Sept. 11).

On Monday, mustard vapor was found to have leaked at the Deseret Chemical Depot at Toeele, Utah.  On Tuesday, officials discovered about a cup of mustard that had seeped out of a 155 mm munition.

“Typically, mustard will ooze out near the warhead, and ooze out over the side and down the round side of the projectile,” Sprague said.  “This seems to be the time of year we have leakers with mustard emissions,” he added.

In the winter, he said, the chemical agent turns solid and is less likely to escape (Associated Press/Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 1).

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