Weapons buried after

In 1993, the United States signed the U.N.-sponsored Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and the Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, commonly referred to as the Chemical Weapons Convention. The United States agreed to dispose of (1) binary chemical weapons, recovered chemical weapons, and former chemical weapon production facilities within 10 years and (2) miscellaneous chemical warfare materiel within five years of the date the convention becomes effective. If ratified by the U.S. Senate, the convention becomes effective 180 days after the 65th nation ratifies the treaty, but not sooner than January 13, 1995. Under the terms of the convention, chemical weapons buried prior to 1977 are exempt from disposal as long as they remain buried. In the United States, burial was... 

C-I/DEC.30 adopted by the Conferenee of the States Parties at its First Session on 16 May 1997 and entitled Deelaration requirements for chemical weapons buried by a State Party on its territory after 1976 or dumped at sea after 1984 ... 

Decides that the Technical Secretariat shall inspect chemical weapons buried on the territory of a State Party after 1976 or dumped at sea after 1984 on the basis of declarations submitted to this effect, taking into consideration that such weapons have to be accessible in terms of the identification thereof as required in Article IV and the relevant provisions of Part IV of the Verification Annex and... 

Subsequently, a newspaper reporter located an Ian McFee who worked for Porton Downs, the British equivalent of AUES, and also that this individual buried chemical weapons there after World War II. Could this person have been the son of our Ian Macfee His birth date rules him out as being the same person. The District of Columbia checked that spelling of McFee and found 109 in the British telephone directory. 

Uhe stockpile (the subject of the Amy s Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program) consists of (1) bulk containers of nerve and blister agents and (2) munitions, including rockets, mines, bombs, projectiles, and spray tanks, loaded with nerve or blister agents. Buried chemical warfare materiel, recovered chemical warfare materiel, binary weapons (in which two nonlethal components are mixed after firing to yield a lethal nerve agent), former production facilities, and miscellaneous chemical warfare materiel are not included in the stockpile. The disposition of these five classes of materials is the subject of a separate Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Pro-... 

Emphasis in this review is on those potential degradation products resulting from agent contact with soil, water or the atmosphere after unintended release from historically buried chemical weapons and wastes, or potential spills during munition demilitarization and disposal activities. The principal degradation processes include photolysis, hydrolysis, oxidation and microbial degradation. Volatilization is an important mechanism for the transfer of some CWAs from soil and water to air. Decontamination procedures, considered in Chapter 7, may incorporate some or all of these processes. 

The document also states, In most cases, these sites served more than one purpose. Ranges were often used to dispose of leaking or defective munitions. Many historical references, primarily during and immediately after World War II, cite instances where chemical weapons were buried because of leaks discovered during transportation or in storage. In some cases, munitions and other containers were drained into holes, covered with lime or open-pit burned and finally covered with earth. ... 

If a State Party buried chemical weapons on its territory after 1976, that State Party is obliged to include this fact in its declaration. A State Party is also obliged to declare the sea dumping... 

The Convention requires that a State Party should destroy any chemical weapons it possesses within the first ten years after the Convention enters into force. In exceptional circumstances this period may be extended to 15 years. It is important to note that chemical weapons possessed by a State Party and buried on its own territory prior to 1 January 1977 do not have to be declared or destroyed as long as they remain buried. If, however, these weapons are recovered they must be declared and destroyed in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. Chemical weapons dumped at sea prior to 1 January 1985 do not have to be declared and are not subject to verification. 

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