Last of chemical weapons slated to be destroyed in Tooele

STOCKTON, Tooele County — Renee Williams grew up around Dugway and the secret atmosphere of military testing in the remote sagebrush country of Tooele County.

So, naturally, she was delighted 27 years ago when she landed a civilian job at Tooele Army Depot and went on to become among the first women to handle highly dangerous chemical weapons in the field.

"I loved my job, even when it was back so secret," she said. "I loved the work, loved handling the munitions and loved what we were doing — making the county, the country, a safer place."

A contract employee of the U.S. Department of Defense who now works as an administrative specialist, Williams is watching twilight settle over the mission of the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility — once home to the nation's largest chemical weapons stockpile. On Wednesday, officials marked the near-end of the disposal process, rendering useless the last of the 155-milimeter projectiles packed with mustard agent.

A metals furnace that heats up to 1,500 degrees Farenheit burned off any of the residual poisonous chemical that remained on a tray of 23 projectiles that were later covered with a protective blanket to prevent the escape of any dangerous emissions. That burning and subsequent cooling process was witnessed on site not far away from the actual operation, but through the safety of remote video linkup.

On Tuesday, the last two, two-ton containers of the agent Lewisite were taken to what's called the Area 10 Liquid Incinerator. When that several-day process concludes — some time Saturday — spokeswoman Alane Grieser said all the original stockpile will effectively be destroyed, even the residual traces.

Williams retired in 2005 and then came back as a contract employee. She spent a dozen years in full protective gear working in the earthen igloos handling the weapons, inspecting them for problems.

"I had to make sure they were not leaking. They had to be ready if the U.S. ever called for them, which they never did."

The time came when the weight of the gear and the health of her joints necessitated taking a desk job, but she looks back fondly on her part in helping to destroy one of the greatest military threats to mankind.

"We were proud to be part of that."

The end of those last traces of chemical agents this weekend marks the conclusion of a 16-year, $3 billion mission in Utah. It will mean seven of nine U.S. sites of stockpiles of chemical weapons are destroyed, with only 10 percent remaining of what the country declared — 31,500 tons — back in 1985.