Chemical Weapons Stored In Central Kentucky

[A Little Weird]

It's believed that the Bluegrass Army Depot in Richmond has 523 tons of chemical weapons. It's taking steps to become the last site in the United States to destroy the sarin, VX and mustard chemicals.

"They're in the process of building the facility that is going to destroy the weapons. It's a $5.4 billion project. They anticipate completion of construction in late 2015," said Williams.

http://www.lex18.com/news/chemical-weapons-stored-in-central-kentucky/

I thought this might be of general interest with all the Syria stuff in the news. I know it makes a lot of people nervous who live near there. Since the military was apparently flush with money for a war military action, it would be nice for them to use some of it to speed up the destruction of these stockpiles.

[dkf]

1. Wow is that how expensive it will be to clean out Syria's weapons?

How much do they have?

[A Little Weird]

2. I don't know

I was wondering the same thing. My guess is that they have less but I don't know - 523 tons seems like a staggering amount. Maybe it will be cheaper too, depending on labor costs and other factors that might be more expensive in the U.S.

[dkf]

5. Report Says Syria Has 1,000 Tons of Chemical Weapons

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171724#.Ui78wcu9KSM

Well I hope this is wrong.

[A Little Weird]

7. Wow! n/t

[B Calm]

3. 30 miles south of here at the Newport, Indiana site, all the nerve gas was

destroyed several years ago.

[A Little Weird]

4. I wonder how many sites are left

I was under the impression this was one of the last chemical weapons storage facilities in the U.S., but I don't know if that's true. It seems like Newport, IN wouldn't be that far away to send the chemicals if they already have a means of destroying them (rather than building a whole new facility), but maybe the risks of trucking them through populated areas is too high. Or maybe they need a different kind of facility for different chemicals.

[B Calm]

8. I'm no expert, but my sister-in-law worked for the company that

was hired to get rid of the nerve gas. It took the company three years to get rid of it. The name of the company was Jacobson. After the job was completed they offered her employment in Alaska next.

[A Little Weird]

14. Link in Post #10 answers this question - 2 sites remain

Kentucky and Colorado

[domestic]

5. Destroy

Must destroy all weapons now...

[B Calm]

9. That all you have to say?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

11. Pull the string again. He'll say, "Danger, Will Robinson!" and wave his arms.

[B Calm]

13. LOL

[Historic NY]

10. the last remaining should be gone by 2017...

According to the Army 89.75% of all weapons as of January 2012 have been destroyed. Apparently the destruction also includes old stockpiles and old buried stuff which must be remediated in place. Kentucky should be finished by 2021..

http://www.cma.army.mil/

[link:http://www.cma.army.mil/verticalmetricswindow.aspx?graph=Agent&desc=Agent%20Destruction%20Status|

[A Little Weird]

12. Thanks! n/t

[B Calm]

15. I know it takes years to get rid of it. It's a very slow process!