Herald-Leader March 1, 2010

Worker safety propels explosive idea for Madison depot

- gkocher1@herald-leader.com
Worker safety and international diplomacy are two primary reasons the Army proposes to explode some chemical weapons at Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County.

The weapons wouldn't be exploded in the open, but inside steel vessels called "detonation chambers" that destroy them with heat or explosive charges.

The Army maintains that exploding the mustard rounds will not affect the construction or start-up of the pilot plant at Blue Grass. That plant will be used to destroy the majority of the 523 tons of weapons stockpiled in Madison County. It will still use a two-step destruction process involving neutralization of the toxic agents followed by treatment of the liquid wastes.

 
So why bring up the issue?

In 2008, the agency responsible for the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles in Kentucky and Colorado noted there were problems with some of the mustard projectiles in Tooele, Utah, where they were to be incinerated.

The normally liquid mustard agent inside the 60-year-old artillery shells had solidified into a gel or tarlike consistency and could not be drained. In addition, workers couldn't remove the explosive element in each shell, known as the "burster."

Had they been used in combat, the 155mm shells would have been fired from cannons or howitzers. The burster causes the shell to explode and disperse the mustard agent, which causes chemical blistering of the skin.

But in the Utah mustard rounds, the outer skin of the burster adhered to the inner skin of the burster well, much like the over-baked bottom of brownies sticks to an oven pan.

"Over time, the burster has essentially become glued in place," said Jeff Brubaker, site project manager for the pilot plant at Blue Grass.

That's a problem because each round must be taken apart before it is destroyed, and that disassembly is fraught with danger, said Craig Williams, executive director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, the Berea-based organization that monitors weapons destruction.

"You're going to have to send two or three guys in to try to pull these bursters out of there," Williams said. "Every time you do it, there's a chance one of those things might explode. That's not a reasonable risk."

The problems encountered in Utah might foreshadow similar problems in Madison County. That's because 65 percent of the mustard lots in the Blue Grass stockpile are identical to those in Utah.

Blue Grass has 15,492 mustard rounds, and 76 are listed as problem rounds that have leaked and could not be disassembled. The number of problem rounds is expected to grow considerably, given the identical manufacturing lot numbers seen in Blue Grass and Utah.

As an alternative, Army officials suggest the use of "explosive destruction technology," which would not require the disassembly of munitions.

In addition, detonating certain weapons arose because there are two potential gaps in the program to destroy chemical weapons in the United States. This is where international diplomacy enters as a factor.

The United States is obligated to dispose of its weapons stockpile by 2012 under the terms of the International Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty, but the government has acknowledged that the deadline will not be met.

Under an estimated schedule, incineration of weapons would end in January 2012 at Utah and Alabama. Meanwhile, Pueblo, Colo., would not start destroying its weapons until January 2015.

Another gap would happen from December 2017, when the destruction of weapons would finish at Pueblo, until October 2018, when the pilot plant at Blue Grass would begin destruction of its weapons.

The U.S. State Department and National Security Council are concerned about these lapses and how they will be received by other countries that are parties to the treaty.

To bridge those gaps, the Army recommended last year using the explosive destruction technology to demonstrate the United States is serious about the continuous disposal of its weapons.

Furthermore, the Army says its ability to meet public and congressional demands to destroy all of the chemical weapons would be enhanced by the selection and acquisition of explosive-destruction technology to "augment" the plants at Blue Grass and Pueblo.

"The recommendation has been made. No final decision has been made," Brubaker said. "And obviously, in order to do this, we would have to comply with all" the state and federal permitting requirements.

The Army is considering four types of technology: three from private-sector vendors and a fourth developed by the Army. The private-sector technologies have been used to destroy mustard in Belgium, Japan and Germany. Whatever method is chosen, the equipment would be put near the pilot plant under construction; a map published late last year showed a potential site north of the pilot plant.

"No decision on the exact siting has been made yet," Brubaker said.

Last year, the National Research Council issued a report that examined the technologies and found them to be safe. It did not field-test any of the technologies on its own, but the council expressed confidence that they could meet all U.S. regulatory requirements.

But there are other complicating factors that make the discussion about exploding weapons even thornier.

Initially only "problem" mustard rounds that had leaked were proposed as candidates for detonation.

Later, the Army said it potentially save eight months of destruction time at the pilot plant if all the mustard rounds could be destroyed by detonation.

In addition, the non-contaminated propellant parts of rockets at Blue Grass were suggested as candidates to be blown up.

And finally, there has been discussion of destroying some GB and VX nerve agents with detonation technology.

That led the Kentucky Citizens' Advisory Commission, the governor-appointed link between the community and the Army, and the Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board, an independent subcommittee of the CAC, to write a letter in mid-December staking out positions on these ideas.

They did not oppose, in principle, the use of detonation chambers to dispose of "problem" or leaking mustard munitions at the depot. They reserved their endorsement of any specific technology until there is "adequate demonstration" of the capability and environmental compliance of any such approach.

They "unequivocally" opposed the use of any such technology for the destruction of nerve agents, but reserved a final recommendation on nerve agent munitions found to be in a condition not suitable for processing at the pilot plant, or for which "unacceptable human risk would be expected," until more technical and environmental data is presented.

The letter noted there was not consensus among the voting members about these recommendations. From his point of view, Williams said, "It's not reasonable to trade someone's well-being when there's an alternative that doesn't put them at risk."

Determining the number of "problem" munitions at Blue Grass will be the subject of an assessment to begin later this year.

Sophisticated technology that can peek into shells like an X-ray will assess the condition of the mustard munitions in Madison County. The goal is to complete that assessment next year.

And a host of other questions remains to be answered. Among them: How much will it cost? How quickly could the technology be deployed? How will secondary wastes be handled?

"It's important for people to understand that we have time to perform due diligence on all of these issues and answer all of these questions," Williams said.

 

Richmond Register February 26, 2010

Idea to blow up weapons worries many

A recent report about the Army’s ideas of exploding some of the chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot and at a storage site in Colorado may have been “blown” out of proportion.

The proposed idea was written about in an Associated Press story printed in many publications, including the Richmond Register.

“The story could have left some misunderstanding as to what was being proposed for the disposal of a specific portion of the chemical weapons stored in Kentucky,” said Craig Williams, director of the Berea-based CWWG (Chemical Weapons Working Group).

The story appeared in the Feb. 20 edition of the Register titled “U.S. may explode depot weapons,” and caused great concern among citizens and former members of the U.S. military, Williams said.

“I’ve gotten many calls from people wanting further explanation about what exploding chemical weapons really means, but the most interesting response I’ve received is from different Gulf War veterans from around the country who read the story and were very concerned because of their experience in the first Gulf War where over 100,000 veterans were exposed to low levels of chemical warfare agent from the exploding of the Iraqi stockpile,” Williams said. “They had GB, mustard and other chemical weapons.”

The weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot contain mustard gas, along with VX and GB nerve agent.

“These veterans misunderstood and thought they were going to be blown up inside the igloo, or worse, outside, rather than inside an explosive containment vessel,” he said. “They were very relieved to hear that this wasn’t going to be an uncontrolled detonation.”

A limited number, if any, of the 101,764 weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot will be disposed of using explosive detonation technology, or EDT, he said. Only “problem” mustard rounds are being noted as needing EDT treatment.

Certain mustard rounds that already have leaked and been overpacked, referred to as “problem” rounds, would have to be manually dissembled.

“You have to send in people with ‘moon suits,’ crow bars, hammers and vice grips to try to pry these things apart,” Williams said. “It’s not responsible to put those workers at that kind of risk.”

The primary reason for considering EDT is because it has been discovered that some mustard rounds are virtually impossible to disassemble without sending workers in to dismantle them manually, he said.

However, Williams also wanted to clarify: “No chemical weapons will be exploded outside of vessel containment.”

There are four EDT’s being considered for use in association to the full-scale treatment facility: Explosive Destruction System, Transportable Detonation Chamber, Static Detonation Chamber and a Vacuum-Integrated Chamber.

“Each has a somewhat different design/process, but what they all have in common is that they destroy the agent via explosion in a vessel, which is steel, averaging four or more inches thick in order to withstand the explosion,” Williams said.

Local citizens advisory board members Doug Hindman, Madison Judge/Executive Kent Clark and Williams addressed a letter to ACWA (Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternative) project manager Kevin Flamm dated Dec. 14.

“We realize that no decision on the use of an EDT has yet been reached,” the letter reads. “At the same time, the Kentucky CAC/CDCAB (Citizens Advisory Commission/Chemical Destruction Citizens Advisory Board) and the EDT Working Group are quite concerned with the very limited time frame being proposed for input on the decision to deploy and EDT for periods between end of operations at the CMA (Chemical Materials Agency) sites and the beginning of operations at the ACWA sites.”

An organization known as OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) is putting pressure on the U.S. State Department, which has admitted that they’re not going to meet the extended 2012 deadline for 100 percent destruction of the US stockpile, pertaining to both the Kentucky and Colorado sites, Williams said.

This is what spawned the reconsideration of detonation by the U.S. Army, he said.

CAC/CDCAB members are reserving their endorsement of any EDT for application at (the Blue Grass Army Depot) until there is adequate demonstration in the U.S. of the technical capability and environmental compliance of any such chemical weapon disposal approach, the letter reads.

“The Kentucky CAC/CDCAB, along with the state and others, are reviewing all the available data and, since the incineration sites can’t handle these ‘problem’ rounds either, we’ll also have the benefit of data from years of these technologies being used in Alabama and Utah before we decide how to proceed,” Williams said.

CAC and CDCAB members have met with representatives from the National Research Council, and are planning to host public hearings to discuss the possibility of using EDT.

Dates, locations and times for these meetings have not been set as of yet.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.

 

August 11, 2009 Richmond Register

More than a warning

Upgraded Tone Alert Radios will soon be distributed

Madison County’s Emergency Operation Center is taking safety a few miles farther with the distribution of new Tone Alert Radios (TARs) in the fall.

The 16,000 TARs already in homes throughout the county are located within the Immediate Response Zone (IRZ), which historically has been considered any place within 6.2 miles of the chemical weapons being stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

“We’re expanding from 6.2 to 9 miles,” said Carl Richards, director of Madison County’s Emergency Operations Center. “We knew that 6.2 (miles) is a pretty small IRZ when we looked at other states with depots that had similar weapons.”

Increasing the span to nine miles helps cover the majority of the county’s population, he said.

Because of the IRZ expansion, about 25,000 of the new TARs will be distributed in mid-October, Richards said.

Those already living in the IRZ eventually will have a chance to recycle their current TAR that is about 12 years old. Drop-off locations for the old TARs will be set up throughout the community for convenience, Richards said.

The new TARs offer more than just emergency alert capabilities.

They will be black instead of gray and feature a screen for emergency text messages, as well as an AM/FM radio with speakers and an alarm clock.

When the emergency tone sounds on the current TARs, it advises that you turn to a certain radio station for further details. The new TARs already will have these radio stations programmed into the device.

“Today, you would actually have to go get a radio,” Richards said. “You will not have to go get a radio with the new ones.”

They also come equipped with a battery that will last about one day in case of a power outage.

The new radios will not only feature a warning light for those hard of hearing, but they also can read the emergency text message as it scrolls across the screen, he said.

Aside from those homes and businesses in the 9-mile radius of the weapons storage area at the depot, all residents within the Berea city limits also will receive a new TAR.

“What we’re trying to do is get the majority of the population covered,” he said.

Even though the TARs’ main purpose is to alert residences of an accident at the depot involving the chemical weapons, it more often will be used as an emergency weather warning system.

“It will alert you of tornado or thunderstorm warnings via the National Weather Service or from us,” Richards said.

“It’s more than just a weather box,” he said. “It’s going to protect you from more than just a depot event. That’s the beauty of the program.”

The 25,000 new TARs, costing about $5 million, were purchased with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding through the U.S. Army.

The TARs cost about $175 each, but will be distributed for free to those in the IRZ and all citizens within Berea’s city limits.

The delivery process should begin in mid-October and be finished by the end of the year, Richards said.

The TARs will be delivered through the mail via FedEx or UPS, but the resident must provide their signature upon delivery.

There will be three delivery attempts, and at least one of those attempts must be made on a Saturday, Richards said.

“It gives us a better chance of getting people at home,” he said. “We won’t leave it on their doorstep.”

For those who do not want a TAR, the answer is simple.

“We won’t give you one if you don’t want it,” Richards said.

For more information, call the Madison County EOC at 624-4787.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.