Chemical Weapons
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Environmental Groups Warn of Chemical Threat to Obama Train
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009Two environmental groups are warning that terrorists could use industrial chemical plants or cargo as a weapon against the train carrying President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden ...
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Two Officials Want to Keep Anniston CW Disposal Site Open
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 Two local officials believe that the chemical weapons disposal plant in Anniston, Ala., should not be shuttered when it finishes destroying the site's stockpile of lethal warfare materials, the Associated Press reported last week (see GSN, Jan. 5). Nearly 1,000 jobs would be lost when the U.S. Army's Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility completes operations, according to Calhoun County Commission Chairman Eli Henderson. "We have all those people out there, experts on hand, resources and money tied up in it," Henderson, whose county houses the plant, told the Anniston Star. The incinerator began operations in 2003 and last month completed destruction of all nerve agent weapons stored at the Anniston Army Depot. It is set next to begin eliminating mustard blister agent. -
U.S. Army Completes VX Disposal
Monday, Jan. 5, 2009The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency last month finished disposing of weapons filled with VX nerve agent (see GSN, Sept. 29, 2008). ...
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"Chemical Ali" Returns to Court for Third Trial
Monday, Dec. 22, 2008 The former high-level Iraqi official known as "Chemical Ali" is being tried again after having already received two death sentences, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 2). Ali Hassan al-Majid, cousin to previously executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, is among four former regime officials who went on trial yesterday for the March 1988 gas attack that killed 5,000 residents of the Kurdish village of Halabja (see GSN, March 17). "We ask the court to execute Chemical Ali and to heal the wounds he caused by gassing our beloved," Kurd Shereen Hassan said during a protest in Halabja. -
U.S. Completes Small-Scale Sarin Neutralization Project
Friday, Dec. 19, 2008Sarin nerve agent held in three decaying containers at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky has been safely neutralized, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 10). ...
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Would-Be Cyanide Dealer Receives 70-Month Prison Sentence
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008A 38-year-old Texas man yesterday received a 70-month prison sentence for possessing 62 pounds of sodium cyanide, federal authorities announced (see GSN, Sept. 8). ...
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Final U.S. Chemical Tanker Rail Route Rule Issued
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008A finalized regulation allows rail firms to send tankers carrying chlorine or other dangerous chemical substances to pass through large U.S. urban areas, the Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday (see ...
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SeaWorld Chemicals Might Pose Terror Threat, U.S. Says
Friday, Dec. 12, 2008The U.S. Homeland Security Department has indicated that chemicals stored at Florida's SeaWorld theme park might be vulnerable to terrorists searching for weapon materials, the Orlando Sentinel reported ...
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U.S. to Prepare Chemical Weapons Waste Treatment Plan
Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008The U.S. Defense Department is scheduled next week to begin developing a plan for treating waste produced by neutralizing chemical warfare materials at two sites, the Richmond, Ky., Register reported (see ...
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Texas Plant to Receive Additional Chemical Weapons Disposal Waste
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008An incinerator in Port Arthur, Texas, will be used to destroy 8,000 gallons of wastewater produced by the chemical neutralization of sarin nerve agent held in leaking containers at the Blue Grass Army Depot ...
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Pine Bluff Arsenal Begins Final Chemical Weapons Disposal Campaign
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008The Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas last week began its final chemical weapons disposal campaign -- eliminating bulk containers filled with mustard blister agent, the U.S. Army announced (see GSN, Nov. ...
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Blue Grass Whistleblower Case Dismissed
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008A U.S. judge ruled that he lacked the power to reinstate the security clearance of a former Blue Grass Army Depot inspector who has alleged he was forced from his position after raising concerns about ...
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Congressional Earmarking Delays Purchase of Chemical Weapon Decontamination Kits
Monday, Dec. 8, 2008Lawmakers concerned with providing jobs in their home districts have provided U.S. troops in the past two years with inferior chemical-weapon decontamination kits, the Seattle Times reported yesterday (see ...
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U.S. Scientists Propose CW Decontamination Wipes
Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008A team of U.S. scientists has recommended pursuing a portable wipe capable of neutralizing mustard agent and other dangerous chemicals, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California announced ...
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Chemical Weapons Disposal Delay "Unacceptable," Senator Says
Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008A nearly two-year delay in completion of chemical weapons disposal in Colorado is "unacceptable," U.S. Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) said yesterday in a letter to the Defense Department (see GSN, Nov. ...