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EPA permit facilitates chemical weapons destruction

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Army News Service, June 10, 2002) -- The Army announced June 10 that the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a national permit to address destruction of polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs, in chemical agent incineration facilities throughout the continental United States.

Issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act, this allows the

Army Program Manger for Chemical Demilitarization to have a single permit with facility-specific operating conditions as it treats PCBs contained in the fiberglass shipping and firing tubes of M55 rockets.

"I am delighted with the recent decision by the EPA as this permit is another step in the right direction to eliminate the stockpile of obsolete weapons and the threat they pose to the communities in which they are stored," said Dr. Mario P. Fiori, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment, whose responsibilities include oversight of PMCD operations.

"The ultimate elimination of these weapons provides the greatest amount of protection and safety to all our stakeholders," Fiori said. "While PCBs are a minute portion of the overall risk, they cannot be ignored. This permit provides consolidated oversight from EPA headquarters, and facilitates accomplishing our overall mission to destroy these weapons safely and timely."

The Army has worked with EPA since 1993 to develop this national permit to cover its U.S. mainland facilities that are scheduled to destroy M55 rockets. These facilities include Tooele, Utah; Umatilla, Ore.; Anniston, Ala.; and Pine Bluff, Ark.

The effective destruction of PCBs has already been demonstrated at the Army's Johnston Island and Tooele facilities. Umatilla, Anniston and Pine Bluff will have to conduct trial burns to demonstrate their ability to destroy PCBs within regulatory levels.

"The M55 rocket is the only munition in the chemical weapons stockpile that contains minute quantities of PCBs. The Army is confident in its ability to destroy PCBs to the required regulatory level in line with its intent to provide maximum protection to the public, the workforce and the environment," said Col. Christopher F. Lesniak, the project manager for Chemical Stockpile Disposal, who is responsible for operations at all Army chemical weapons incineration sites.

This permit will have immediate impact, as the Tooele facility is poised to begin VX agent operations, and will start with the destruction of VX-filled M55 rockets. In addition, both Anniston and Umatilla are nearing the start of their agent destruction operations and will initially destroy GB-filled M55 rockets.

(Editor's note: this article is from a Program Manager for Chemical press release.)