The Nation - News from March 10, 1988

Incineration of obsolete chemical weapons will resume this week at Tooele Army Depot, Utah, where disposal operations were shut down after a nerve gas leak 13 months ago. Work began to prepare equipment for renewed destruction of M-55 nerve gas rockets at the Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System, officials said. Disposal operations were to begin by week’s end. The Army is using the remote desert facility to test equipment and procedures it eventually will use to destroy the nation’s aging chemical agent stockpile. The size of the chemical arsenal is classified but has been estimated at 30,000 tons. On Jan. 28, 1987, a small quantity of deadly liquid nerve agent leaked from an incinerator. No injuries were reported.