[CPEO-MEF] APG to begin neutralizing mustard agent stockpile

[cpeo <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Maryland
ARMY NEWS SERVICE
APG to begin neutralizing mustard agent stockpile
April 22, 2003

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Army News Service, April 22, 2003) -- The
process of destroying the bulk mustard agent stockpile at Aberdeen
Proving Ground, Md., will begin April 23, under an accelerated program
implemented by the Army following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Destruction had been scheduled for completion by the year 2006, but
security concerns after the terrorist attacks led to "Speedy Neut," a
project that reordered the sequence and design of the original
neutralization process.

Mustard, a syrupy blister compound with the consistency of molasses, has
been safely stored and monitored for more than 60 years at the Chemical
Agent Storage Yard, under the supervision of the Edgewood Chemical
Activity, located in the Edgewood Area of APG.

"We are safely accelerating the destruction of the mustard agent
stockpile by more than two years," said Kevin J. Flamm, the Army's
Project Manager for Alternative Technologies and Approaches. "I'm proud
of this team and what it is doing for our community and our country."

After the Aberdeen Chemical Agent Disposal Facility destroys the mustard
agent, the empty steel containers will be decontaminated and cut in two
for recycling off-site.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/Apr2003/a20030422apgneutral.html

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