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Mustard-gas vapor has been detected inside a munitions storage facility at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, which houses 105mm projectiles, Army officials said today.

The Army said that both state and county officials have been notified and that a crew will enter the igloo-type structure probably Tuesday to look for leakage.

“We know we have a problem in the structure,” said Chuck Sprague, spokesman for the Pueblo depot. “However, there is no emergency. We are proceeding with normal operating procedures.”

Sprague said the depot has 780,000 mustard-gas-filled projectiles that are about 60 years old. The two-foot-long artillery shells were brought to the Pueblo depot in 1952.

Sprague said a new plant at the depot, designed to destroy the projectiles, will be completed in 2014. Destruction of the mustard-gas shells should be completed by 2017.

Ross Vincent, chairman of the Sangre de Cristo Group of the Sierra Club and a long-time depot watchdog, said that the leak emphasizes the need to destroy the gas as soon as possible.

“Leaks like this happen from time to time,” said Vincent. “It emphasizes the importance of getting rid of this stuff.

“The gas presents a risk to local communities, a risk to workers at the depot and a terrorist could breach security and wreak havoc,” said Vincent.

Vincent said that the destruction of the mustard gas could have been completed by 2012. However, he said a few years ago the Pentagon put on the brakes on the construction of a facility at the Pueblo depot to destroy the gas. Some in the Pentagon felt it might be more cost effective to destroy the weapons at an existing plant such as the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Utah.

But Vincent said the decision to build the plant at the Pueblo Depot is now back on track because of a Defense Department allocation of $550 million. The ground has been broken.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment said today that the leak was detected at a time when the state has asked the Army to increase the monitoring of the 98 igloos containing mustard gas.

Instead of quarterly monitoring, the state now wants weekly monitoring, said Doug Knappe, the health department’s permitting and compliance assistance unit leader.

Knappe said the request was made because although the state once classified the mustard gas as a “product project,” it’s now determined that the aging mustard gas shells are a “waste project” and need to be monitored more closely.

He said the igloo where the mustard gas vapor was detected was clean last week, but that readings taken this morning were high.

“It is a level of concentration above the level at which the instrument was calibrated,” said Knappe. “It is outside acceptable specs.

“It is a concern for a health impact to the workers but not a huge health threat to the public,” he added. “It’s high compared to historical releases but not high as far as impacting one’s health.”

The vapor was detected by a laboratory vehicle designed to analyze air inside the storage facility from outside. The vehicle does this through a small air line that penetrates into the earth-covered building, according to the Army.

Technicians are attaching a charcoal filter to an air vent on the back of the building to clean contaminated air inside the igloo.

The Army said that the safety of all individuals both on and off the post as well as the environment remains the primary concern of depot officials and the Army.

During World War I, mustard gas was used extensively by German forces. Mustard gas causes the skin to blister, eyes to become sore and causes nausea. It causes internal and external bleeding and attacks the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. It is extremely painful.

Sprague said only Germany used mustard gas. He said the United States produced the gas as a “deterrent” and has never used it in combat.

“It worked — because mustard gas has never been used again,” Sprague said.

Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or Pankratz@denverpost.cam