From the US:
Wildlife refuge reopens after chemical weapons cleanup - Brighton Standard-Blade
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge will re-open Saturday, June 14, after a seven-month closure. The refuge closed in late October after traces of the chemical weapons agent Lewisite were found …
Ala. chemical weapons worker dies of heart attack - The Associated Press
A worker at an incinerator that destroys chemical weapons for the Army died of an apparent heart attack he suffered while working, a coroner said …
Chemical Weapons Incinerator Employee Dies on Job - The Anniston Star - RedOrbit.com
A subcontractor working at the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility died while on duty Wednesday afternoon. The cause of death for the employee, …
Employee dies at Anniston Army Depot, cause unknown - The Associated Press - al.com
An employee at the Anniston Army Depot incinerator died while on duty Wednesday but the death was not job-related, spokesmen said …
Worker dies at chemical weapons plant in Alabama - The Associated Press
Officials say a worker has died at an Army facility where chemical weapons are destroyed in northeastern Alabama. The laboratory worker at the …
From Russia:
Ukraine concerned over Russia’s chemical disposal plant - RIA Novosti
Ukraine is concerned over a Russian chemical weapons disposal plant currently being constructed 70 km (43 miles) away from its …
Construction of Chemical Weapons Disposal Facility Launched in Russia - ITAR-TASS - RedOrbit.com
The foundation stone of Europe’s largest plant for the destruction of chemical weapons will be laid near the town of Pochep in Bryansk Region on Tuesday [10 June], the spokesperson for the information centre for chemical disarmament …
Russia and Ukraine Close to Scandal Over CWD Plant - Russia-InfoCenter
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Russia considers that Ukraine unreasonably makes a fuss about construction of an object for chemical weapon …
From China:
Drills begin to ensure safe Olympics - China Daily
The potentially fatal chemical agent rendered some 30 victims unconscious. About 400 people acting as audience members evacuated the venue within three …
From Ireland:
Safety fears over cyanide disposal plan - Herald.ie
A plan to destroy 15kg of a lethal chemical in the Wicklow Mountains has sparked public safety fears. South Dublin County Council has confirmed the waste hydrogen cyanide will be destroyed by explosion later this …
The U.S. military says it has destroyed more than half of its stockpile of chemical warfare agents without harming communities near the disposal sites, the Associated Press reported today …
A look at chemical weapons destruction in the US - The Associated Press
Percentages of the chemical weapons stockpiles that have been destroyed either by incineration or chemical neutralization at five active sites in the United …
VX agent disposal resumes at depot - East Oregonian
The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility began processing VX nerve agent Monday morning following a two-and-a-half week break after a smoke incident on …
Army: US chemical weapons incineration on track - The Associated Press
When the Army began building incinerators to destroy tons of deadly chemical weapons, many feared the worst …
Emergency Drill Tests Response - The Pueblo Cheiftan - RedOrbit.com
A school bus accident is bad enough but add to the mix a tanker truck full of hazardous chemicals well outside of the city but in an area with large numbers of workers and …
Russia Gets Rid of Chemical Weapons - Russia-InfoCenter
Following the international obligations regarding presence of chemical weapons in the country, Russia has utilized 10.5 out of 40 tons of the poisoning …
Russia Destroys 10500 Tonnes of Chemical Weapons - Interfax - RedOrbit.com
During the third stage of the chemical weapons destruction programme, Russia has destroyed 10500 tonnes of toxic substances, the head of the …
Russia Destroys Over 10000 Tonnes of Toxic Agents - Interfax - RedOrbit.com
June 3 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has destroyed 10500 tonnes of toxic agents in a third phase of the program to eliminate chemical weapons, Valery Kashin, …
Western Financial Assistance With Chemical Weapons Minimal: Kapashin - Interfax - RedOrbit.com
Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia has signed, the country was to destroy 1% (400 tonnes) of its chemical weapons by April 2003 and 20% …
Russia destroys over 25% of its chemical weapons - RIA Novosti
Russia has destroyed over 25% of its chemical weapons arsenal, or 10500 metric tons, a senior military official said on …
Russia Destroyed ¼ of Chemical - Kommersant
Of 40000 tons of chemical agents, 10500 have been destroyed during the third stage of the chemical weapon destruction. With funding provided, Russia will be …
Russia Destroys a Quarter of Its Chemical Weapons - DefenseNews
Russia has destroyed more than a quarter of its chemical weapons stocks, in line with international treaties, a top disarmament official was quoted by Russian news agencies …
Russia says it’s cut chemical stockpile - United Press International
Russian officials said Tuesday the country has destroyed more than a quarter of its chemical weapons arsenal, amounting to 10,500 tons of material …
Federation Council to Ratify Deal on Russian-Italian Cooperation in Chemical Weapons Disposal - Interfax - RedOrbit.com
The Russian Federation Council will consider a bill ratifying an agreement between the Russian and Italian governments on cooperation in the disposal of Russian chemical weapons …
In the past week the U.S. Chemical Weapons destruction effort has made several headlines. Here is the rundown:
The Anniston CW disposal site reached a milestone by completing the destruction of all the VX-filled artillery shells stored there. Overall this means that 50% of the Anniston stockpile has been destroyed and complete destruction is expected in 2013.
The Newport disposal site has passed the 90% destruction mark. Plans are now being made for cleanup and dismantling of buildings to facilitate the site’s closure in 2011.
Complete destruction of CW agents at the Pine Bluff Arsenal is expected in 2012, and the facility is looking to the future when its mission will be transitioned to meet current wartime demands.
News was not as good from the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. It was shut down May 14 for repairs, but is expected to be functional again in early June. There also was a mustard agent leak detected at the facility, but it was contained inside the storage structures.
Work was suspended at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal after low levels of Lewisite agent were detected in the air at the facility.
Finally, there was a report on the construction of the Pueblo Chemical Depot. Construction may be underway, but the current time lines are well outside of the 2012 destruction deadline mandated by the CWC. The facility should be completed by 2013 and operational by 2015.
This article in the East Oregonian describes a Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program drill taking place at the Umatilla Chemical Depot this week. It’s pretty cool/terrifying stuff.
Here is a brief round up of some of the chemical weapons related news this week.
On April 29, the Japanese news site The Daily Yomiuri Online published an article in response to the corruption scandal involving Japanese cleanup of ACW in China. It gives a time line and outline of Japan’s ACW removal efforts to date.
Also on April 29 there was a news report that “Russia Destroys One-Third of Its Chemical Weapons”. Not exactly a figure that hasn’t been reported previously… but the article does bring up the enormous (and skyrocketing) cost of CW destruction.
Finally, yesterday there was news in the U.S. proclaiming “Pine Bluff Arsenal destroys first VX-filled landmine”. Horray! Just a few thousand more tonnes to go…
I just ran across this news story on the latest scandal related to the Japanese removal of Abandoned Chemical Weapons (ACW) from China.
Time Magazine also ran a story on the Japanese ACW just days before the Second Review Conference.
During the RevCon the Japanese delegation hosted a lunch event to showcase their efforts on destroying ACW in China. It was pretty interesting, videos were shown of 3 different excavation sites, one in a riverbed, one in a forest and one in between the buildings of a chemical plant. Each site had unique challenges, for example to remove ACWs from the riverbed, the river needed to be dammed and a pier removed to allow workers to excavate. Metal detectors used to locate the ACWs also located garbage and other foreign metal objects that were buried in the river. The take-home message that the Japaense delaegation was hoping to impress upon us was that they are working on it, but ACW recovery has not been an easy process.
Next challenge: actual destruction of the weapons.
Recovery difficulties coupled with an additional corruption scandal… It’s not unreasonable to wonder if they will have trouble meeting the destruction 2012 deadline.
Speaking of countries that will have trouble meeting the 2012 deadline - The Pueblo Chieftain reported this week that some of the construction of the Pueblo chemical weapon neutralizing facility will be delayed until 2009. Yikes!
This week U.S. Chemical Weapons destruction has been in the news. Construction has finally begun on the facility planned for the Pueblo, Colorado destruction site, and old chemical weapons found at Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, Hawai’i are being destroyed.
In other news on chemical weapons destruction, Canadian researchers reported “an exciting new method for rapidly and safely destroying toxic agents such as chemical weapons and pesticides.” Apparently it works extremely quickly and the degradation products are non-toxic making it “a ‘green’ alternative to existing decontamination practices.”