CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN OUR MIDST

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

"NON-STOCKPILE" CHEMICAL DANGERS

The Aberdeen Proving Ground Superfund Citizens Coalition 
(APGSCC) is warning that government agencies and environmental 
organizations alike need to pay more attention to the threat posed by 
"non-stockpile" chemical munitions. These are unexploded 
projectiles containing deadly chemical agent as well as rounds 
buried as "disposal." The military estimates that non-stockpile 
chemical weapons are located on 200 facilities across the nation. At 
a handful of installations, such as the Aberdeen Proving Group, the 
problem is significant.

The Coalition writes, "The Army maintains [that the chance of] an 
accidental explosion is very low, but APGSCC argues the potential 
severity for loss of life demonstrates that the Army, in concert with 
the regulators, must make precise determinations regarding the risks 
to adjacent communities in all instances involving UXOs. Worst 
case scenarios and human error factors must be considered."

In another letter, it concludes, "We firmly believe that citizens 
living in close proximity to APG (within two miles) or recreating in 
the waters around the base are at considerable risk regarding the 
potential for a critical event occurring during the site 
characterization, excavation, construction, handling, open 
detonation, and/or possible the lack of adequate storage sites for the 
non-stockpile chemical weapons recovered during CERCLA [the 
Superfund law] clean-up."

The Coalition reported, "Army contractors conducted a 
magnetometry sweep of the Nike Site and detected over 10,000 hits 
of metal in this 100-acre area. (Nike is one of a number of sites at 
APG that contain chemical weapons.) Many of these hits could be 
just metal objects contaminated with chemicals, but many could be 
unstable warheads which eventually, if left alone, will surface 
creating a potentially dangerous situation. The Nike Site is 1500 
feet from hundreds of homes and less than a mile from three 
schools. Recently, the Commanding General at APG sent 20,000 
residents letters of notification regarding the Nike Site clean-up 
and potential hazards. According to the Army, a low risk exists for 
the accidental detonation of chemical weapons followed by the 
release of a lethal plume which could result in mass devastation and 
death in surrounding communities closest to the base ..."

Four times in 1994, the Army open-detonated, for the purpose of 
emergency disposal, four chemical weapons at Aberdeen. On May 
13, 1994, it open-detonated what it believed to be a high-explosive 
155mm projectile. It turned out to be mustard agent. APGSCC 
reports, "an estimated 11 1/2 pounds of live mustard agent was 
released to the environment during the detonation."