Army set to destroy old chemical weapons

[unhappycamper]

Army set to destroy old chemical weapons
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 16, 2008 6:04:43 EDT

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — The Army is set to begin destroying the largest concentration of unexploded chemical weapons ever found in the U.S.

A total of 71 of the weapons dating from World War I on will be detonated over the next three weeks in a remote area of Schofield Barracks on Oahu.

The Army says the phosgene and chloropicrin rounds were stockpiled through World War II and were discovered during range clearance operations between 2004 and 2006.

The liquid-filled rounds will be destroyed one at a time in a Transportable Detonation Chamber, a 110-ton device being used in the U.S. for the first time.

The system uses explosives to destroy munitions and their chemical agents, and includes containment of any vapors generated when a munition is destroyed, the Army said.


Article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_chemicalweapons_041508/