Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
STOCKTON, Tooele County — The final large container of mustard gas in the stockpile at the Deseret Chemical Depot is scheduled for incineration on Monday.
The event is historic for the depot and Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal facility, where work to destroy the largest stockpile of the nation's chemical weapons has been a full-time effort for the past 15 years.
Stainless steel containers weighing 19,000 pounds have gone back and forth from storage igloos to the incineration plant more than 24,000 times since the first shipment to the incinerator Aug 21, 1996. The final container carrying mustard gas moved to the main incineration plant on Wednesday, according to the depot.
Inside the massive facility, remotely operated robotics will punch and drain the mustard gas container and incinerate it Monday morning as community leaders watch a video feed at the project's outreach center miles away.
"We have nearly reached our treaty obligations here through the effective teamwork of professionals dedicated to creating a safer tomorrow," said depot commander Col. Mark B. Pomeroy. "It has taken the commitment and expertise of not only toxic materials handlers but an integrated team of trained professionals to reach this milestone."
Depot spokeswoman Alaine Greiser said the chemical weapons stockpile that existed before the process began is now 99.7 percent gone. After Monday's scheduled event, the main incineration facility will start destroying secondary waste. Remaining munitions and containers of the nerve agent GA, captured from the Germans at the end of World War II, and blister agent lewisite, will be destroyed in smaller facilities on the depot.
Some of the remaining odds and ends include 300 aging munitions where the explosives could not safely be separated from their toxic payload. Those munitions will be paired with a separate explosive charge and detonated inside a bomb chamber installed at the depot about one month ago.
Greiser said the remaining work should be accomplished in January or February, ahead of the April 29, 2012 Chemical Weapons Convention treaty deadline. The international treaty requires destruction of chemical weapons throughout the world.
Utah is among eight states with chemical weapons depots and home to what was the nation's largest chemical weapons stockpile.
Email:sfidel@ksl.com
