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APG to begin neutralizing mustard agent stockpile

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Army News Service, April 22, 2003) -- The process of destroying the bulk mustard agent stockpile at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., will begin April 23, under an accelerated program implemented by the Army following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Destruction had been scheduled for completion by the year 2006, but security concerns after the terrorist attacks led to "Speedy Neut," a project that reordered the sequence and design of the original neutralization process.

Mustard, a syrupy blister compound with the consistency of molasses, has been safely stored and monitored for more than 60 years at the Chemical Agent Storage Yard, under the supervision of the Edgewood Chemical Activity, located in the Edgewood Area of APG.

"We are safely accelerating the destruction of the mustard agent stockpile by more than two years," said Kevin J. Flamm, the Army's Project Manager for Alternative Technologies and Approaches. "I'm proud of this team and what it is doing for our community and our country."

After the Aberdeen Chemical Agent Disposal Facility destroys the mustard agent, the empty steel containers will be decontaminated and cut in two for recycling off-site.

The project includes a diverse team of government personnel, including the Army Corps of Engineers and contractors. Bechtel Aberdeen, the contractor responsible for the project, heads a team of more than 400 people to destroy the aging mustard stockpile.

"We have an impressive team of individuals supporting this mustard agent neutralization process," said Lt. Col. Gerald Gladney, Edgewood Chemical Activity commander. "Every team member has received extensive training and is ready to execute this critical mission in an extremely safe and highly competent manner. It is abundantly clear to everyone involved in this process that each individual has a personal responsibility for considering safety first and safeguarding the workers, our community and the environment always."

Members of the U.S. Army Technical Escort Unit, an Army organization with 60 years of experience in the movement of hazardous chemicals, will move the large steel containers of mustard to the neutralization facility.

The Army worked closely with representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Department of the Environment, who approved the plans and procedures for the neutralization facility. Employees will work around the clock for the next six months to destroy the agent. Following a gradual ramp-up of the process, the facility is expected to drain and neutralize an average of 12 containers per day.

Bechtel Aberdeen project manager Lee Smith noted that the plant essentially has been open and operating on a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week test, training and evaluation schedule since early December, with workers compiling thousands of hours of hands-on experience in the months leading up to neutralization start-up.

"We take worker safety very seriously," he added. "Everyone who works here is not only proficient at their job, but also in maintaining the highest standards of personal and plant safety. Our goal is to perform our mission while protecting our workforce, our community and the fragile environment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed."

The commitment to safety led to a change in the facility's startup date, which had been scheduled for March 3, officials said. Record-setting snowstorms and equipment adjustments delayed some essential tests and the conduct of the integrated operations demonstration in which the proficiency of all four shifts in running the facility is evaluated, using water rather than mustard agent. The successful completion of this evaluation has certified that both personnel and equipment are ready to start mustard agent operations, officials said.

Public meetings were held, most recently in January, to explain the accelerated neutralization process, and information is always available to the public. For details on the process, call the Edgewood Chemical Stockpile Outreach Office, 410-676-6800, or go to the Chemical Materials Agency (Provisional) website, www.cma.army.mil, for information and fact sheets.

(Editor's note: From an Aberdeen Proving Ground press release.)