Nerve agent may be missing

Exactly which bases had such variances was censored from the released version of the report. But some uncensored text shows that the Utah base was one with such problems.

Auditors said officials explained that when the one-ton containers were filled initially years ago, different methods of varying accuracy were used to weigh and record how much agent was in each — and those sometimes inaccurate weights were used when America declared how much it had for treaty purposes.

For example, one site used a scale where "weight could vary by as much as 129 pounds if reweighed on a more accurate scale," the report said.

So, auditors wrote, "Due to these methodologies it was determined that weights, in some cases, were inaccurate because of the scales used during the time of production," so it is not surprising they did not match the amounts actually destroyed.

Also, auditors wrote that "some of the chemical agent hardened in the container and remained in this state even after the container was destroyed during the demilitarization process."

The report added, "At Tooele, the contractor used a waste tracking form to: document the differences; (and) show the approximate amount of agent remaining in the ton container after liquid agent had been destroyed." Metal parts with hardened agent were then destroyed in a furnace.

The report added, "However, although we found that the tracking forms were signed by the contractor's custodian, they weren't signed by a government representative and the differences were reconciled and updated" in the database tracking how much was stored and destroyed.

Auditors also said no reviews into discrepancies — even when some large ones of up to 20 percent for some containers were noticed — were conducted because rules and contracts only required them if records for all ton containers at one site were off by 5 percent after their destruction was completed.

Auditors called for a few changes, including recording the actual amount of agent destroyed in databases and reconciling discrepancies quickly.

In a written response, the Chemical Materials Agency agreed with the report's conclusions. It said it will determine how often reconciliation should be conducted as one-ton containers and contents are destroyed.

It said, however, it intends to continue listing possibly inaccurate amounts destroyed in its official database because adjusting the weights would require changes to international treaties. Instead of seeking that, it plans to add a report in the data system that "is capable of showing the variances from the declared weight."

The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Elimination of Chemical Weapons also agreed with the conclusions of the report, and accepted the corrective actions proposed by the Chemical Materials Agency.

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