U.S. Achieves 60 Percent Destruction of Chemical Weapons Stockpile
The OPCW has verified the complete destruction of U.S. chemical weapons at three national sites: Newport, Indiana; Aberdeen, Maryland; and Johnston Island. Operations continue at the remaining destruction sites in Tooele, Utah; Umatilla, Oregon; Anniston, Alabama; and Pine Bluff, Arkansas, all of which are destroying or preparing to destroy blister agent.
An on-site container containing VX agent-filled M55 Rockets will be sealed before being pulled by a truck a short distance to the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.
The United States Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA), which is responsible for destroying U.S. chemical weapons, has announced the destruction of 60 percent of the country’s declared stockpile under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which has been verified by the OPCW.
The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, welcomed the announcement and congratulated the United States for its achievement.
“The United States and indeed all of the possessor States have consistently demonstrated firm commitment to fulfilling their obligations under the Convention by destroying their declared chemical weapons according to given deadlines,” he said. “In every case, high standards of health and safety have been maintained in these efforts and serious accidents avoided, which is a tribute to the determination of the possessor States to comply with their obligations in the most conscientious way possible.”
The OPCW has verified the complete destruction of U.S. chemical weapons at three national sites: Newport, Indiana; Aberdeen, Maryland; and Johnston Island. Operations continue at the remaining destruction sites in Tooele, Utah; Umatilla, Oregon; Anniston, Alabama; and Pine Bluff, Arkansas, all of which are destroying or preparing to destroy blister agent.
In reaching the 60 percent destruction mark, CMA calculates that it has reduced the overall continued storage risk from the nation’s stockpiled chemical weapons by 94 percent.
CMA reached the 50 percent destruction milestone in December 2007 and says it is poised to destroy the agency’s two-millionth chemical weapons munition in the coming months.
OPCW NEWS 18/2009
Categories: Disarmament, Western Europe and Other States
For further information, please contact Michael Luhan, Head, OPCW Media & Public Affairs. Tel: + 31 (0) 70 416 3710 or +31 (0)6 5356 8512 or media@opcw.org | ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS, Johan de Wittlaan 32, 2517 JR The Hague, The Netherlands
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