Tooele site to begin new phase

Managers of the chemical weapons incinerator in Tooele County are planning the next phase in the plant's life, when it will begin burning a much more deadly type of nerve agent.

Next year, they plan to wrap up the destruction of GB nerve agent and begin incinerating the oily and persistent agent VX. And that has opponents of incineration even more nervous than usual.So far, the Army's $1 billion plant has destroyed only GB, also known as sarin. By the end of April it had burned 73 percent of the Tooele County stockpile, or 8.8 million pounds of GB out of an original total of 12 million pounds.

Late in 2001, managers say, it should finish burning GB and start on the 2.7 million pounds of VX.

A tiny drop of VX on the skin can kill in a few minutes. That's a droplet as small as the distance between columns in a penny's representation of the Lincoln Memorial.

"VX is what they call a persistent agent, because it's designed to stick around for a long time," said Mark W. Mesesan, project communications specialist for plant operators EG&G Defense Materials.

GB and VX both attack the central nervus system, so both are nerve agents. GB is deadly when inhaled, so it is designed to vaporize. But VX kills when it is absorbed through the skin, so it contains material that prevents it from evaporating rapidly.

The deadliness of VX is shown by an accident in Tooele County more than 30 years ago. On March 13,1968, wind carried an experimental spray of 2,500 pounds of VX away from the target grid at Dugway Proving Ground. The nerve agent drifted into an area grazed by sheep, and almost immediately 6,400 sheep died.

Because of the danger posed by the continued storage of VX, Mesesan said, managers have decided to get rid of that material when they finish with GB. Otherwise, they could have turned to mustard, also known as blister agent.

"By the time we get rid of VX, the public risk will be almost nil," Mesesan said.

Mustard's properties are such that "it would be virtually impossible for it to impact the public outside the depot," he said.

For about 11 weeks following the GB campaign, workers will be decontaminating the plant of that nerve agent and preparing the system to handle VX.

Checking with a scheduling expert, Mesesan said the plant should process VX-filled munitions for about 9 1/2 months.