2002 CPEO Military List Archive

From: loc@icx.net
Date: 4 Dec 2002 16:37:47 -0000
Reply: cpeo-military
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] INCINERATION OF CHEMICAL ARMS BACKED
 
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INCINERATION OF CHEMICAL ARMS BACKED
from The Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- America's arsenal of chemical weapons can be safely
incinerated at a few sites around the  country, despite chemical
releases
and violations at the only two operational incinerators, according to a
report released Tuesday.

"The risk to the public and to the environment of continued storage
overwhelms the potential risk of  processing and destruction of
stockpiled
chemical agent," said the report by the National Research  Council, a
branch of the National Academies of Science. "The destruction of aging
chemical munitions  should proceed as quickly as possible."

The council did not weigh in on whether incineration was preferable to
other methods of neutralizing  the chemical agents.  Critics who favor
other options said the report ignored important incidents and  glossed
over the dangers of incineration.

Under an international treaty, the United States agreed to dispose of
31,500 tons of deadly nerve agents and toxic blister agents by 2007,
although the Defense Department has said it will probably miss that
deadline by two to three years. The project is expected to cost $24
billion.

About a quarter of the stockpile has been destroyed at weapon
incinerators in Tooele, Utah, and on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific
Ocean.

"The technology is capable of doing the job if it's run correctly, and
there's no reason it cannot be run correctly if management puts its mind
to it and trains its work force properly," said Charles Kolb, chairman
of the committee.

The council report identified 40 cases in which chemical agents leaked
into areas where they were not supposed to have been and three in which
they escaped from an incinerator building. But it said the amounts that
escaped were too small to threaten the public.

Full story from
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-chemical4dec04.story
--
.....................................................
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee
102 Robertsville Road, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
Toll free 888-770-3073 ~ www.local-oversight.org
.....................................................

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