[CPEO-MEF] Greely cache appears free of hazardous chemicals

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Greely cache appears free of hazardous chemicals


By Zaz Hollander 
Anchorage Daily News 

(Published: April 13, 2002) 
Preliminary tests on the contents of a buried cache of rusted 55-gallon 
drums unearthed this week at Fort Greely military reservation picked up 
no sign of chemical weapons, a state environmental officer said Friday.

The screening by a military hazardous materials team also came up 
negative for hazardous waste except for indications of high acidity, 
said Greg Light, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation 
officer who oversees military cleanups north of the Alaska Range.

Workers on Wednesday discovered more than 20 drums while excavating a 
borrow pit for soils to be used in the construction of five test beds 
for a missile-defense system. Some of the barrels bore the acronym 
"USCWS" or United States Chemical Warfare Service, an Army agency 
inactivated in 1946. 

Three workers complained of rashes on Thursday but medical personnel who 
treated them said there was no connection between the drums and the 
symptoms, U.S. Army Alaska spokesman Chuck Canterbury said Friday.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/930003p-1032939c.html