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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The U.S. Army has begun the final phase of a munitions destruction project in Utah's west desert -- draining and incinerating the first of thousands of containers of mustard gas held in storage.
Begun Friday, the project at the Deseret Chemical Depot will last six to 10 years. It involves burning about 6,200 tons of liquid blister agent and is complicated by the presence of an estimated 800 pound of toxic mercury.
At one time, the Tooele County depot housed more chemical weapons than any other storage site in the United States. To comply with the international Chemical Weapons Convention, the U.S. government began weapons destruction at the facility in 1996.
Mustard gas, which is a liquid at room temperature, was first used during World War I. The agent causes severe blisters, internal and external bleeding and strips the mucus membranes from airways. Those exposed to it may have an increased risk of cancer and birth defects.
Workers will first drain and incinerate the 1-ton mustard gas containers with low concentrations of mercury, depot spokeswoman Alaine Southworth said.
Workers will also design and install sulfer-impregnated carbon filers to scrub mercury from the exhaust when containers with higher concentrations are disposed of, she said.
Vanessa Pierce, director of Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, wonders if the technology will work. She said the Army should follow the mustard gas disposal methods used at other facilities where the gas is neutralized with plain water.
"It still has to be treated as a hazardous waste, but there is no risk of hazardous contaminants getting into our air," Pierce said.
Southworth said the Army feels the technologies are equal but finds incineration more effective. The Tooele incinerator has already successfully disposed of 7,400 tons of other nerve agents, she said.
Southworth estimated nor more than one to two pounds of mercury would be released during the incineration process.
Mercury is a highly toxic element that is found naturally in the environment and introduced through activity like coal burning and minerals processing. Concentrations of mercury in its organic form, methylmercury, can harm the human nervous system and cause developmental and neurological ailments in young children and fetuses.
In 2005, scientists found the Great Salt Lake contained some of the highest concentrations of methylmercury in the United States.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
