2006-12-18 Nerve agent depot reported secure after pallets replaced

A recently completed safety project at the Blue Grass Army Depot assures that chemical weapons stored at the facility will remain secure, an official said. The project that began in March 2005 replaced the weathered and weakened wooden pallets that weapons were stored on, said Dick Sloan, spokesman for Blue Grass Chemical Activity, which is responsible for the safe storage of the weapons. The pallets were becoming water logged, increasing the chances of a weapon becoming unstable and possibly falling over.

The weapons, which contain lethal nerve agents, have been stored in igloos at the depot since the end of World War II. Workers replaced 227 pallets in 20 igloos, according to a report released Wednesday documenting the project. The operation was completed in two phases and involved more than 3,000 weapons.

Officials conducted a special study in 2005 to determine the condition of the pallets. "We found that the time had come to take proactive steps with the pallets to ensure the continued safety of the stockpile," said Blue Grass Chemical Activity Commander Lt. Col. Tom Closs. "Even our newest munitions, the nerve agent projectiles and rockets, have been stored here on the same wooden pallets for over 40 years." In addition to the new pallets, workers changed landscaping so that water runs away from igloos and covered several of them with waterproof tarps, Sloan said.