[CPEO-MEF] Chemical Stockpile 1/3 destroyed

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency
Release #04-14
December 28, 2004 

One Third of the Nation's Chemical Agent Now Safely Destroyed

U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency Reinforces its Position as the World
Leader in Programs to Eliminate Chemical Weapons

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. ?- The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency
(CMA) today announced that it has safely destroyed 33.34 percent of the
nation's stored chemical agent. CMA continues working toward fulfilling
its mission to enhance national security while meeting the destruction
provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) treaty signed by the
United States in 1997.

Workers at the Aberdeen Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, located at
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., have destroyed more than 70 percent of the
mustard agent stockpile that has been stored for over 60 years at the
installation. The facility remains on track to complete destruction of
this stockpile this winter.

"The dedicated workers at all of our disposal facilities are making
great strides to eliminate these weapons and make our nation safer in
the process," said Michael A. Parker, CMA director. "We remain focused
on our mission and will use our expertise, experience and resolve to
continue this work until the last of this materiel is safely destroyed."

CMA protects and safely stores the United States' aging chemical
weapons, while employing technologies to safely and effectively destroy
the nation's chemical stockpile as well as recover, treat and ultimately
eliminate other chemical warfare materiel. Thus far, the Army has
destroyed more than 42 percent of the nation's chemical weapons
munitions, and 10,503 tons of chemical agent, representing one third of
the total stockpile.

All of the chemical weapons on Johnston Island in the Pacific were the
first to be eliminated by the Army. Along with Aberdeen, chemical
weapons are currently being destroyed in Tooele, Utah; Anniston, Ala.;
Umatilla, Ore. Operations to destroy chemical weapons are anticipated to
begin within the next year in Pine Bluff, Ark., and Newport, Ind.

The U.S. Army Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Program (NSCMP), another
arm of CMA, has also made substantial progress in destroying chemical
materiel considered separate from the chemical stockpile. This materiel
includes former production facilities and recovered chemical warfare materiel.

 NSCMP reached a key milestone in 2003 by destroying more than 80
percent of the nation's original chemical weapons production
capabilities 16-months ahead of schedule. In November of this year,
NSCMP completed a major phase in its ongoing demolition of a former
production facility at Pine Bluff Arsenal, White Hall, Ark., one of the
two still remaining (the other is at Newport Chemical Depot, in
Vermillion, Ind.). Both will be demolished by the April 2007 deadline
established under the CWC.

To learn more about the CMA's programs and activities, visit the
agency's web site at http://www.cma.army.mil.

# # #

The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency is responsible for safely
storing and eliminating the United States' aging chemical weapons and
agent stockpiles and for the safe elimination of recovered chemical
materiel. 

For the original press release, go to
http://www.cma.army.mil/pressroom.aspx

-- 


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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