THE MORNING NEWS
LOCAL NEWS FOR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

Pine Bluff Arsenal Completes Destruction of Nerve Agent

Last Updated Monday, June 23, 2008 8:43 PM CDT in News

By Wes Clement
THE MORNING NEWS

WHITE HALL -- The final nerve agent-filled land mine has been destroyed at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, moving the site a step closer to eliminating stockpiled chemical weapons, officials said Monday.

The last of the 9,378 VX land mines stored at the site was destroyed Friday. In all, the arsenal incinerated about 94,000 pounds of the nerve agent. Destruction of the mines marked the end of the third of four disposal campaigns at the site.

Destruction of the VX stockpile began Oct. 11, and on Feb. 23 workers transported the last containers carrying VX-filled rockets to the disposal area.

"Those weapons have been eliminated and are gone. It's history," said Mark Greer, site project manager for the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. "We are very close to our goal of one day having all of these agents completely gone."

The completion of the VX land mine campaign will be the end of all VX-filled munitions stored at Pine Bluff Arsenal, said Lt. Col. Cliff Johnston, the Pine Bluff Chemical Activity commander. "The storage risk to the community has been reduced by 99.9 percent," he said.

The objective of the final disposal campaign will be elimination of 1-ton containers of mustard agent, Greer said. The storage and destruction of the mustard agent presents almost no danger to the surrounding community, he said.

With land mine operations completed, the site is now in a changeover period to prepare for the mustard agent disposal operations.

"We have about six months to prepare for this transition, then we're scheduled for a three-year campaign," said David Reber, the project general manager for the Army's Pine Bluff Chemical Demilitarization Facility. The operation could completed ahead of schedule, as others have, he said.

"We're developing plans now to shape the future of the arsenal," said Larry Wright, the arsenal civilian executive assistant. "We will need to improve the military value and overall employment base at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. We're looking at adaptation of support facilities and other ancillary facilities to be used for other purposes."