Re: DIG-L: digest gas from chemical weapons

[Arthur D Unger <alunger@juno.com>]

The US Army chooses to dispose of chemical weapons by "water
neutralization followed by biodegradation," rather than incineration. If
this is relevant, here is a "brag" clip from the Sierra Club with a
reference at the end.   Arthur Unger

Army Chooses Safer Method for Chemical Weapons Disposal

After a long 14-year battle waged in the beginning by the lone voice of
Sierra Club volunteer leader Ross Vincent, the Army recently declared
that
it would not incinerate tons of chemical weapons and instead use a safer
method of destruction.  At issue were 780,000 rounds of chemical weapons
stored at the Army's Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado.  These munitions
contain 2,600 tons of mustard agent and have been slated for destruction
since the late 1980's.

The Army had stubbornly favored destroying the munitions by incineration,
but many others, including labor unions, community groups, the Catholic
Diocese, the County Commissioners, the State Legislature, the Governor,
Representative McGuiness, and Senator Allard all joined forces to
successfully convince the Army choose a safer method of destruction.

Called "water neutralization followed by biodegradation," or the "bug
method" for short, this safer alternative uses microbes to help break
down
the hazardous chemicals and is much safer than incineration. Incinerating
the chemical weapons was sure to harm human health, damage crops and
livestock, and lower the quality of life in the community.

This victory is not only good news for the Colorado community, but good
news for other communities all across the country that have stockpiles of
chemical weapons slated for destruction.  According to Ross, "It means
that
incinerator salesmen can no longer argue persuasively that incineration
is
"state-of-the-art" -- the "best" way to dispose of combustible wastes.
There are always better ways."

"Sierra Club members in several chapters have worked for years to get the
Army to give up plans for incineration of chemical weapon stockpiles in
favor of safer technologies," said Ross.  Thanks to Ross's vigilance
through all these years, and the formation of a formidable lobby starting
at the grassroots level, the air will be safer to breathe in Colorado and
many other communities across the country.

To read more about this story, please visit
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,417~493272,00.html

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