Workers at the Blue Grass Army Depot yesterday discovered chemical agent leaks in two storage structures, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2008).
Mustard blister agent was leaking from a munition in one storage igloo, while sarin nerve agent had escaped in another. The leaks were found over a period of hours.
These were the first leaks found this year by Blue Grass Chemical Activity, said spokesman Richard Sloan. He noted the rarity of finding two vapor escapes in such a short period of time.
"I don't think I've ever seen it happen before," Sloan said.
Filters prevented any chemical agent vapor from escaping the storage igloos. Depot personnel were scheduled today to find and repack the leaking munitions.
"It's always a cause for concern, therefore we don't expect it, but it's something we're well trained to handle," Sloan said.
Increasing heat in the area might have been to blame for the mustard leak, according to Sloan.
The latest schedule for disposal of weapons stored at Blue Grass has operations beginning in 2019 and concluding two years later, AP reported. All other chemical weapons storage sites would have finished demilitarization activities before the Kentucky installation (see GSN, May 15; Jeffrey McMurray, Associated Press/Louisville Courier-Journal, May 26).