[CPEO-MEF] Mystery barrels unearthed

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Mystery barrels unearthed
FORT GREELY: Hazardous materials crews comb site of 1940s military dump.

By Zaz Hollander
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: April 12, 2002) 
Workers clearing dirt for a new missile defense system at Fort Greely 
this week unearthed a cache of rusty barrels that could hold remnants of 
chemical weapons.

Some barrel lids from the mysterious 1940s military dump read "US CWS" 
-- the abbreviation for the United States Chemical Warfare Service, the 
U.S. Army chemical and biological combat agency inactivated in 1946.

Army officials say they don't know what's in the more than 20 corroded 
World War II-vintage barrels. Some barrels yawn open, revealing frozen 
crystallized contents. Others are so riddled with holes that they're 
empty. 

Three of the contract workers who discovered the barrels reported skin 
irritations Thursday, according to Chuck Canterbury, an Army spokesman 
at Fort Richardson.

One was treated and released with "six red dots" at the hospital on Fort 
Wainwright, Canterbury said. Two others were examined at Fort Greely, 
one suffering from a rash covering his chest, the other with tiny red 
bumps around his waist and neck.

The complete article can be accessed at:
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/925091p-1025588c.html