for immediate release: Thursday October 21, 1999
ARMY REPORTS CHEMICAL WEAPONS STOCKPILE IS STABLE: NUMBER OF LEAKERS NOT
INCREASING; UNDERMINES KEY ARGUMENT FOR INCINERATION
An internal U.S. Army Soldier, Biological and Chemical Command (SBCCOM)
report, made public for the first time today, "shows that the rush to incinerate
chemical weapons is based on false arguments," according to those who
advocate non-smokestack technologies for destruction.
The newly acquired document, an SBCCOM "Information Paper" titled
"Chemical Stockpile Storage Stability Status" dated October 8, 1999, concludes
"there is no apparent trend toward increased or decreased leak rates in the
chemical stockpile." For years the Army's Program Manager for Chemical
Demilitarization (PMCD) has claimed that a growing risk of nerve gas leakage,
particularly from spontaneous explosion of stored M55 rockets or aging agent
containers, mandated rapid incineration and prohibited deploying advanced
technologies.
PMCD has proclaimed the M-55 rockets to be the most risk-significant item in
the U.S. stockpile and has defended its 1984 decision to use incineration in
large part based on the danger posed by storing these munitions. For example
in July 1995 PMCD is quoted in an Arkansas paper as saying, "There are
400,000 M-55 chemical rockets stored around the country, and statistically one
could go off at anytime." And in an Alabama paper in July, 1995 another
PMCD official is quoted as saying, "Most of the M-55s are about 30 years old,
and because they combine the chemical agents with the propellant, there is a
risk of spontaneous explosion."
"Now the branch of the Army responsible for storage, SBCCOM, has
documented in writing that these fundamental assumptions of PMCD's
incineration program are false," explained Craig Williams, national spokesman
for the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG). "There is ample time to
implement advanced agent destruction technologies which pose less threat to
human health and the environment."
The SBCCOM report specifically addresses concerns about the M55 rockets
observing, "The results indicate that normally stored (that is, non-leaking
rockets and undetected/unoverpacked leaking rockets) M55 rockets can
dissipate sufficient heat to prevent autoignition. The results for overpacked
leaking M55 rockets indicate that the autoignition probability is low but
cannot be ruled out." Williams pointed out that the overpacked rockets have
been segregated from the rest of the stockpile to eliminate the risk within the
igloos where large numbers of "normally stored" rockets reside.
As for ton containers filled with the agent HD or "mustard," which incineration
advocates claimed were at risk from drain plug leakage, SBCCOM's Report said, "There was corrosion
noted on some of the tested plugs however there were
more than sufficient threads engaged to preclude any cause for concern. The
survey indicates no increasing trend in leakers or severe corrosion problem,
hence the recommendation was made to maintain the current visual
surveillance program."
CWWG's Williams concluded, "At last the facts have caught up with PMCD's
rhetoric. Now everyone knows that their 'sky is falling' campaign about storage
risk is designed to build support for chemical weapons incineration based on
fear rather than be honest with communities about risks."
The Chemical Weapons Working Group is a coalition of groups representing
communities where the nation's nerve and mustard agent arsenal is stored.
CWWG has long called for adoption of non-incineration technologies, such as
those already demonstrated and currently being demonstrated under the
Congressionally mandated Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment. |
