[CPEO-MEF] October 6 Dover open house for EDS chem weapons disposal

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2004

Contact: Karen Drewen
Public Affairs Officer
Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Program
E-mail: karen.j.drewen@us.army.mil

Contact: Jason Huffine
Public Affairs Officer, TVA
Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Program
E-mail: jason.huffine@us.army.mil

Army's mobile technology prepares for action
Explosive Destruction System to support Dover Air Force Base


ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. - Dover Air Force Base officials have
requested support from the Army's Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel
Program here to dispose of a chemical warfare munition discovered in Delaware.

The Army plans to safely dispose of the World War I-era munition in
mid-October using the Explosive Destruction System. The Army has used
the EDS to successfully treat more than 200 chemical warfare items,
including 22 items recently treated at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah.

NSCMP officials have scheduled an open house so the public can view the
EDS Wednesday, Oct. 6, from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Delaware Agricultural
Museum and Village in Dover. Officials from the Air Force, Department of
the Army and Army Corps of Engineers will join NSCMP to answer questions
about the technology and planned operations.

According to an Air Force press release, Dover AFB explosive ordnance
disposal personnel brought the munition to the air base July 19 after a
local state trooper found the item in Bridgeville, Del. Air Force
officials requested support from the U.S. Army Guardian Brigade's
Technical Escort Unit, also located at APG, to assess the item.

TEU confirmed the substance was the chemical warfare blister agent
mustard. The munition remains safely stored at Dover Air Force Base.

Headquartered at the Edgewood Area of APG, NSCMP is mandated by Congress
to treat chemical warfare materiel recovered on military installations
or formerly used defense sites in a safe, environmentally sound and
cost-effective manner.

The EDS uses an explosion and vapor containment chamber to detonate a
munition, then neutralizes the chemical agent inside the airtight
chamber. Army officials ship the remaining liquid and fragments to a
permitted commercial disposal facility. Teams from the Edgewood Chemical
Biological Center, also located at APG, operate the EDS.

Since 1999, NSCMP has built a solid performance and safety record with
the EDS through successful missions including Rocky Mountain Arsenal in
Commerce City, Colo., the former Camp Sibert in Gadsden, Ala., and
extensive testing overseas at Porton Down, United Kingdom. In the summer
of 2003, NSCMP used the EDS to successfully treat 15 World War I-era 75
mm projectiles, which also contained mustard agent, recovered at a
burial site in the Spring Valley area of northwest Washington, D.C.

The Army is committed to accurately assessing and classifying recovered
suspect chemical warfare materiel, and providing maximum protection to
workers and the public while complying with all applicable environmental
rules and regulations.

NSCMP leads the nation in the development and use of advanced technology
to safely eliminate America's non-stockpile chemical materiel in an
environmentally sound and cost-effective manner. A division of the U.S.
Army Chemical Materials Agency, NSCMP researches and develops treatment
options and destruction plans that comply with all federal, state and
local regulations, and encourages public participation in its
activities. For additional information visit the CMA Web site at http://www.cma.army.mil.

                                   # # # 

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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