Mustard Gas in Arkansas?

Mustard Gas in 2009? Hard to believe, to be sure. This stuff dates back to World War One! Even more unbelievable is that fact that this gas is stored in nearby Pine Bluff, Arkansas… More from the Global Security Newswire…

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Arkansas Environmental Quality Department has approved a proposal for increasing the rate of disposal of mustard agent stored at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 27).

The incinerator is now allowed to process the chemical warfare material at 75 percent of its operational maximum, up from 50 percent, according to the Pine Bluff Commercial.

As of Monday, plant had destroyed more than 494 bulk containers filled with 826,745 pounds of mustard agent — more than 13 percent of the arsenal’s original mustard stockpile. The site began eliminating 1-ton barrels of the substance in December.

The facility has destroyed more than 27 percent of its original chemical-weapon stockpile, having already finished off munitions containing the nerve agents VX and sarin (Associated Press/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 20).