CHEMICAL WEAPONS
******************************************************The Army has been tasked to destroy about 31,500 tons of highly toxic chemical agents by April 2007, the deadline set by an international treaty for the elimination of all chemical weapon stockpiles. Until they are destroyed, the chemical agents will continue to pose a threat to the thousands of people living and working near the disposal facilities where the agents are being stored. To destroy the weapons, the Department of Defense (DOD) established the Army’s Chemical Demilitarization (or Chem-Demil) Program. The Army has destroyed over one-quarter (8,044 tons) of the U.S stockpile as of March 2002. Originally, the Chem-Demil Program consisted only of the Chemical Stockpile Disposal Project, also known as the baseline incineration project, which was initiated in 1988 to incinerate chemical weapons at nine storage sites. Then, in response to public concern about incineration,...
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OFFICIAL VERSION OF ABOVE
