Chemical Weapons Incinerator

The Army is incinerating the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world in a manner that was never intended and under conditions that have never been tested at its Chemical Weapons Incinerator, 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. This has been evidenced by four top managers who have become whistleblowers, by internal documents and memos showing disastrously dangerous operations inside, and by confirmed releases of nerve gas into the atmosphere on May 8th, 2000.

The most recent whistleblower was the Chief Permit Coordinator, who was responsible for obtaining the environmental permit that allows the incinerator to operate. He has charged that he was forced to falsify trial burn data, illegally submit information to Utah state regulators to cover-up major flaws in the incinerator's design, and withhold critical information about health risks all under the threat of losing his job. Shortly after learning of these allegations, our coalition obtained Army documents confirming nerve agent releases that were covered-up, worker exposures that were denied, and critical plant system failures the Army has decided not to fix.

We are promoting the use of safer alternatives before the Army begins to incinerate the much more toxic stockpile of deadly VX nerve agent, and the very dangerous mustard agents.