Johnston Atoll

The original chemical stockpile at Johnston Atoll consisted of the following weapons ... 

As a side note, beginning in 1964, a huge open-air biological weapons test was conducted downwind from Johnston Atoll in which a number of ships were positioned around the atoll, upwind from a number of barges stocked with test subjects (rhesus monkeys) who were exposed by agents dispensed from aircraft. 

Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System... 

The U.S. Army is in the process of destroying the country s stockpile of aging chemical weapons, stored at eight locations in the continental United States and on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The deadline for completing the destruction of these weapons, as specified by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) international treaty, is April 29, 2007. Originally, the Army selected incineration as the preferred baseline destruction technology, and it currently operates two incineration facilities—one on Johnston Atoll and one at the Deseret Chemical Depot near Tooele, Utah. The Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) completed destruction of the stockpile on Johnston Island in late 2000, and closure of the... 

The unitary5 chemical agents in U.S. stockpiles are nerve agents (GB and VX)6 and three related forms of blister (mustard) agent (H, HD, and HT). The original stockpile contained 31,496 tons of unitary agents, which were stored in a variety of munitions and containers under ambient conditions, where they exist primarily as liquids. Because the stockpile at Johnston Atoll in the Pacific has been completely destroyed by incineration and the stockpile at Deseret Chemical Depot, in Utah, has been partially incinerated, as of October 3, 2001, the amount in storage was approximately 24,098 tons. 

Dunnage. Experience at the baseline system facilities at Johnston Atoll and Tooele, Utah, has shown that only a tiny fraction of dunnage is contaminated with agent. Uncontaminated dunnage from these two stockpile locations is being disposed of off-site by commercial... 

CLOSURE AND JOHNSTON ATOLL CHEMICAL AGENT DISPOSAL SYSTEM... 

JACADS Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System USARPAC U.S. Army Pacific... 

JACADS, the first fully integrated baseline incineration system for the disposal of stockpiled chemical agent and munitions, is located on Johnston Island, part of the Johnston Atoll, approximately 800 miles southwest of Hawaii. The facility occupies 130 acres of the 625-acre island and includes one large process building, with three furnaces and auxiliary equipment. 

Finding 15. Security requirements for Johnston Atoll following the departure of USACAP include (1) protection of personnel, facilities, and materiel, (2) prevention of pilferage, unauthorized use, sabotage, and violation of community rules and regulations, and (3) prevention of... 

Recommendation 15. Security measures on Johnston Atoll commensurate with personnel safety and the protection of government and personal property should be maintained throughout the closure process. 

JACADS JOHNSTON ISLAND JOHNSTON ATOLL CHEMICAL AGENT DISPOSAL SYSTEM AREA DECOMMISSIONING MATRIX WORK AREA SCOPE SHEET 2 OF 6 ... 

Johnston Atoll consists of Johnston Island and three much smaller nearby islands that function primarily as nesting sites for various seabird species. The entire atoll complex, including Johnston Island, is managed jointly by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Fish and Wildlife Service as a national wildlife refuge. 

Because the primary steward and ultimate ownership responsibihty for Johnston Atoll have not been determined, the Army has not been able to negotiate final cleanup standards for the JACADS facility. The Stockpile Committee s letter report noted that a decision on the end use of Johnston Atoll would require the participation of at least four federal departments (Commerce, Defense, Interior, and Transportation) as well as EPA (NRC, 2000a). 

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