PUEBLO, Colo.—The Army has cut back on the number of mustard agent shells it wants to destroy in closed chambers at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.
The Army now wants to use explosions to destroy up to 40,000 shells, down from 125,000 in an earlier plan, the Pueblo Chieftain reported Tuesday.
The purpose of the detonation plan, which has encountered stiff opposition from some Pueblo groups, was to speed up the process.
The Environmental Protection Agency asked for data and modeling that would have meant a long delay in the explosives plan, said Kevin Flamm, manager of the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program. The program oversees the destruction of chemical weapons at Pueblo and at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky.
About 780,000 obsolete shells containing mustard agent are awaiting destruction at the Pueblo depot under terms of an international treaty. Most will be neutralized with water and bacteria, but the Army has always planned to use explosions in closed chambers to destroy shells that are leaking or damaged.
Previously, officials estimated such shells would be number 400 to 1,000.
Kathy DeWeese, a spokeswoman for Flamm’s program, said the higher estimate is “extremely approximate” and could change.
An environmental assessment on the plan to destroy 125,000 shells with explosives has been withdrawn. Officials said a new, more rigorous assessment will be completed next year on the scaled-back plan.
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Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain,
