Chemical Weapons

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

ARMY CONCEALS C.W. SAFETY

The Army, hoping to keeps its chemical weapons (CW) incineration
program on track, reportedly concealed critical information which would
have lent additional credence to alternative disposal schemes. The Chemical
Weapons Working Group, which represents opponents of incineration at
nine U.S. stockpile sites, charges "the Army has now admitted a seven-fold
error in its calculations for when rockets in the stockpile could accidentally
detonate."

The Working Group argues that the Army should delay destruction until
safer detoxification technologies are proven. It says, in a recent review of
CW safety, the Army projected 120 years of safety, not 17.7 years, but it
neglected to inform the public, Congress, or the National Research Council,
which recently completed a review of disposal alternatives.

For more information, contact the Chemical Weapons Working Group, Box
467, Berea, Kentucky, 40403.

This article is reprinted from the September, 1994 edition of the CITIZENS
REPORT ON THE MILITARY AND THE ENVIRONMENT. For more
information, or to be place on the mailing list, contact <lsiegel@igc.org>.