Warfare Material

This chapter describes some of the considerations peculiar to chemical weapons. It is a must-read for even experienced EOD persoimel because familiarity with chemical weapons ended with World War I. Certainly, few EOD units have any significant experience with these weapons. Even the Occupational Safety and Health Admiiustration (OSHA) does not have adequate personal protective equipment for these weapons charged with explosive material. Only the European crews have this experience level, unless one works at Aberdeen, Dugway, or some other CWM storage facility. 

There are some issues that are unique to chemical weapons. Certainly, most contain an explosive charge and possibly an initiating explosive or fuse. However, some CWM may be stored in glass containers, making location difficult. Also, CWM residuals may exist in the soil and pose a hazard to excavation crews. UXO teclmicians clearing possible CWM sites should always wear respirators, if not Level A protective suits. 

---

Dugway Proving Ground, located at Tooele, Utah, has been used for large area testing of Chemical Corps toxic agents and other chemical warfare materials Ref R. Clinton, ArmedForcesChemJ 5,... 

The HSS-Gerat is listed in the US Army s German Chemical Warfare Material (1945), filed in PRO, WO 208/3025. 

A) ArmyOrdnHdb 154, "History of Trench Warfare Material , USGovtPtgOfc, Washington, Dc (1920), pp 182-214... 

Provides detailed instructions for planning the environmental remediation of military ranges and ordnance dumpsites, and includes lists of explosives, chemical warfare materials, and breakdown products that the soil and groundwater must be tested for. 

For over 70 years the U.S. has produced and stored chemical weapons. In addition to the military arsenal, there are also "non-stockpile" materials. Non-stockpile material includes buried chemical warfare material, binary chemical weapons, recovered chemical weapons, and former production facilities. Some of these materials date back to World War I development and production efforts. Not all of these sites are still under military control. For example, in 1993, a large number of World War I chemical shells were removed from a residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C. The burial site was discovered by construction crews while excavating the basement of a new home. In addition to non-stockpile materials, there have also been several situations where individuals have claimed to possess chemical munitions and threatened to release their contents. For these reasons, it would be beneficial to be able to rapidly identify suspect munitions. 

Identifying and assessing sites with possible buried chemical warfare material ... 

Destroying recovered chemical warfare material on-site as needed to protect the general public and environment ... 

Destroying binary chemical weapons, miscellaneous chemical warfare material, recovered chemical weapons, and former production facilities in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, in compliance with public safety and environmental requirements and regulations, and in coordination with the potentially affected public and... 

The Army Corps of Engineers provides technical support for site investigations, recoveries, and site restorations to Army and DOD organizations and is responsible for cleaning up formerly used defense sites. Restoration activities concerning the handling and disposal of nonstockpile chemical warfare material are coordinated with and authorized by the Army Chemical Demilitarization and Remediation Activity. 

USACHPPM s TG 218. Detailed and General Facts About Chemical Agents. The facts sheets contained in this Technical Guide are intended to provide summary information on 24 chemical warfare materials related to Chemical Stockpile and Non-Stockpile activities. In essence, they are a brief abstract of data contained in Material Safety Data Sheets and other technical references relevant to these substances. 

Quality and holds an ASQ certification as a Manager of Quality/Oiganizational Excellence (CMQ/OE). He has been responsible for management and supervision of numerous projects related to the investigation and remediation of sites contaminated with unexploded ordnance and chemical warfare material. 

Unlike stockpile facilities, discussed next, no dedicated non-stockpile facilities have yet been completed. The PMNSCM plans to construct such facilities at two sites where large quantities of recovered chemical warfare material (RCWM) are stored the Munitions Assessment and Processing System (MAPS) at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Maryland, and the Pine Bluff Non-Stockpile Facility (PBNSF) at Pine Bluff Arsenal (PBA), Arkansas. 

Plasma arc technology has been used successfully in Europe to destroy chemical warfare material but has not been permitted in the United States. Currendy, PMCD is optimistic that it will have little difficulty in obtaining a permit. They have identified several plasma arc firms in this country that have operational units, but none has destroyed a CW-related waste stream. If the ACWA program does not develop a continuous SCWO system that is cost-effective for use on the quantities of materiel to be destroyed in the nonstockpile program and if a permit for the plasma arc technology cannot be obtained in time, the Army may be forced to incinerate its waste streams to comply with the CWC treaty deadline of April 2007... 

Destruction of Chemical Warfare Materials in Albania Using Plasmox Technology... 

The deployment protocol calls for seven EDS units to be operational by FY 2007, including three Type 1 and four Type 2 units. Two Type 1 units will be based in APG. One will be on standby for deployment as required to handle emergency situations that require timely disposal of unstable munitions. The other will be used at APG to handle remediation activities at Lauderick Creek. The third Type 1 EDS will be based at Pine Bluff for destroying warfare material recovered at that location. 

The primary component of AR 50-6 that affects the nonstockpile program is that pertaining to recovered chemical warfare material (RCWM). These requirements are described in Chapter 12 of AR 50-6. The specific definition of RCWM is as follows ... 

There are two types of warfare ordnance that we search for on a range site—chemical and high-explosive—and sometimes these are combined. Most chemical warfare material (CWM) exists in the form of a liquid that vaporizes at normal temperature. In the manufacture of poison gas and loading shells, the gas is refrigerated to a liquid, much Uke how alcohol vapor is cooled down to a liquid when making moonshine in a still. The liquid is then poured into drums, bottles, jugs, barrels, or shells. (One exception to the liquid CWM is chlorine or arsine, which, when filled into shells, exists as a compressed gas.)... 

---