Chemical Weapon Disposal
According to NRCCRECSDP (2000), chemical weapon disposal has been done in the past through sea disposal, land burial, explosion and open pit burning/incineration. However the decomposition of such chemicals has been founded to pose a significant environmental, public health threats resulting to land and water contamination. Thus, as much as the government has made the decision on disposing the chemical weapons there are some unanswered questions like how should the government dispose off the chemicals in a way that is safe for the environment and the surrounding population.
Many citizen groups like Sierra club and Greenpeace have seriously opposed the disposal of chemical weapons through incineration and burning in the open pits. They have argued that this impose a great cost to the budget, nearly 550% more than the incinerator program allocation. Furthermore, they have noted that the government can’t keep to the incineration schedule and many times they use unsafe methodologies. But above all, the failures of equipment during incineration like the case which occurred in March 23rd 1994, where live GB agent was released into the atmosphere.
Another great concern is the release of waste from the disposal process. The chemical weapons disposal, particularly through incineration can produce lots of hazardous substances including 2,3,7,8 Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin which has been found to cause cancer. Also, they have been studied and realized that they produce congeners which also causes cancer (NSAID, 1996).
Other studies have also found that untreated chemical disposal even at law levels can result to chronic health problems. Thus, the citizen groups have noted that the only best way of disposing the chemicals is by using safer technologies like neutralization, gas phase chemical reduction and electrochemical oxidation.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that, like any other environmental problems the disposal of chemical weapons is very complicated, but due to the toxicity of the chemicals, the army should stop incineration, and other traditional disposal methods.
References
National Research Council, Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program-NRCCRECSDP. (2000). Integrated design of alternative technologies for bulk-only chemical agent disposal facilities. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
NSAID. (1996). Chemical weapons stockpile, emergency preparedness in alabama is hampered by management weakness. US General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. GAO/NSAID publication 96-150.
