Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) was the U.S. Army's first chemical munitions disposal facility. It was located on Johnston Island, at Johnston Atoll and completed its mission and ceased operation in 2000.
Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) was the U.S. Army's first chemical munitions disposal facility. It was located on Johnston Island, at Johnston Atoll and completed its mission and ceased operation in 2000.
| Agent | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Sulfur mustard (HD) | 578,339.6 pounds (262,330.4 kg ) |
| Sarin (GB) | 2,639,462.4 pounds (1,197,240.0 kg) |
| VX nerve agent | 845,418.3 pounds (383,475.3 kg) |
Prior to the beginning of destruction operations at JACADS, the atoll held about 6.6% of the entire U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons. [1] Chemical weapons were stockpiled on Johnston Atoll beginning in 1971, [2] including weapons transferred from Okinawa during the 1971 Operation Red Hat. [1] Some of the other weapons stored at the site, including Sarin (GB) and VX Nerve Agent, were shipped from U.S. stockpiles in Germany in 1990. The shipments followed a 1986 agreement between the U.S. and Germany to move the munitions. [3] The remainder of the chemical weapons were a small number of World War II era weapons shipped from the Solomon Islands. [4] In 1985, the U.S. Congress mandated that all chemical weapons stockpiles at Johnston Atoll, mostly mustard and nerve agents, be destroyed. [5]
Planning for JACADS began in 1981 and initial construction started in 1985–1986. [1] In August 1985, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a 10-year permit to the Army allowing it to construct and operate JACADS. [6] As JACADS was preparing to begin operations, the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 100-456, which required JACADS to complete operational verification testing (OVT) to ensure each type of munition could be disposed of safely. [7] Operations began at JACADS in June 1990, [2] commencing with operational verification testing. [1]
The first weapon disposal took place on June 30, 1990. That day, JACADS became the first U.S. chemical weapons disposal facility. [5] The OVT phase of operations lasted until March 1993. [1] Transition from the testing phase to full-scale operations began in May 1993 and, in August, full-scale operations began. [1] Twice, in 1993 and 1994, the facility had to be evacuated because of hurricanes; operations were delayed for as long as 70 days during these periods. [1]
On November 29, 2000, the last of the chemical weapons at JACADS were disposed of. [2] The last disposal operation destroyed more than 13,000 VX filled land mines. [2] Two years after the last chemical weapons at JACADS were destroyed, the Army submitted the plan to dismantle the facility to the EPA; it was approved in September 2002. [8] Demolition on the 80,000-square-foot (7,400 m2) facility, home to the incinerators, laboratories and control rooms, took place from August to October 2003. [5] In November 2003 a plaque was dedicated to JACADS personnel. [5]
JACADS workers utilized incineration to destroy the chemical agents at Johnston Atoll. [9] After workers loaded the weapons onto a conveyor, automated equipment would take over the process. The equipment removed the explosive component of the weapon and drained the chemical agent. The explosive and chemical agent were then incinerated at high temperature. [9] The metal weapons casings were then thermally decontaminated and scrapped. [1] [9]
By early 1996, the facility at Johnston Atoll had destroyed about 3.5% of the overall U.S. chemical weapons stockpile. [10] Included in that amount, out of total stockpile of 31,000 tons, was two million pounds of mustard and nerve agents destroyed by JACADS. [10] The disposal program was overseen by Project Manager Gary McCloskey, and during the ten years from 1990–2000 was responsible for the destruction of over 400,000 chemical rockets, projectiles, bombs, mortars, ton containers, and mines. [2] Also destroyed at JACADS were over 2,000 tons of the nerve agents sarin and VX, as well as the blister agent HD. [2] In total, the program at Johnston Atoll destroyed 412,000 individual chemical munitions. [4] [11]
There were a few chemical weapons related accidents during the period JACADS was in operation. In January 1993, the burster charge on a 105 mm artillery shell ignited. [5] The shell contained World War II-era mustard gas, though none was released and the incident resulted in no injuries. [5] A later incident on March 23, 1994, resulted in the accidental release of sarin gas after a chemical agent line was opened for maintenance without properly purging the line with fuel oil. [5] The incident led to a $122,000 fine against the Army from the EPA. [5] Another incident in November 1994 led to the explosion of a drained chemical rocket during mechanical removal of the fuse, but no leaks were reported. [5]
On December 9, 1993, a spill of about 500 pounds (226 kg) of Sarin (Agent GB) occurred inside the Munitions Demilitarization Building (MDB). There was no agent migration outside the building and the contingency plan was not activated. The facility suspended processing of munitions until investigation of the incident was satisfactorily completed. [12]
The U.S. National Research Council's Committee on Evaluation of Chemical Events at Army Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities was provided, by the Army, with a list of 39 incidents that occurred at JACADS from its opening until its closure. Of those 39 events, 24 were classified as chemical in nature. [13] For example, five days after the last chemical weapons were destroyed at JACADS, VX was detected in ash from the incinerator. [13] The committee's evaluation of JACADS incidents was published in 2002. [13]
The 1990 shipments of nerve agents from West Germany to JACADS caused several South Pacific nations to express unease. [3] At the 1990 South Pacific Forum in Vanuatu, the island nations of the South Pacific indicated that their concern was that the South Pacific would become a toxic waste dumping ground. [14] Other concerns raised included the security of the shipments, which were refueled at sea and escorted by U.S. guided missile destroyers, while they were en route to Johnston Atoll. [3] In Australia, Prime Minister Bob Hawke drew criticism from some of these island nations for his support of the chemical weapons destruction at Johnston Atoll. [15]
VX is an extremely toxic synthetic chemical compound in the organophosphorus class, specifically, a thiophosphonate. In the class of nerve agents, it was developed for military use in chemical warfare after translation of earlier discoveries of organophosphate toxicity in pesticide research. In its pure form, VX is an oily, relatively non-volatile liquid that is amber-like in colour. Because of its low volatility, VX persists in environments where it is dispersed.
The Newport Chemical Depot, previously known as the Wabash River Ordnance Works and the Newport Army Ammunition Plant, was a 6,990-acre (28.3 km2) bulk chemical storage and destruction facility that was operated by the United States Army. It is located near Newport, in west central Indiana, thirty-two miles north of Terre Haute. The site was used as a production site for the solid explosives trinitrotoluene and RDX, as well as for heavy water. It also served as the production site for all of the U.S. military's nerve agent VX, when it was in use. All VX nerve agent at the site was neutralized by August 8, 2008. It was the third of the Army's nine chemical depots to completely destroy its stockpile.
The Umatilla Chemical Depot (UMCD), based in Umatilla, Oregon, was a U.S. Army installation in the United States that stored chemical weapons. The chemical weapons originally stored at the depot consisted of various live munitions and storage containers each holding 1 short ton GB or VX nerve agents or HD blister agent. All munitions had been safely destroyed by 2011 and base closure operations were still ongoing as of 2022.
The Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility or TOCDF, is a U.S. Army facility located at Deseret Chemical Depot in Tooele County, Utah that was used for dismantling chemical weapons.
The United States Army Chemical Materials Activity (CMA) is a separate reporting activity of the United States Army Materiel Command (AMC). Its role is to enhance national security by securely storing the remaining U.S. chemical warfare materiel stockpiles, while protecting the work force, the public and the environment to the maximum extent.
Pine Bluff Chemical Activity is a subordinate organization of the United States Army Chemical Materials Agency located at Pine Bluff Arsenal in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The U.S. Army stored approximately twelve percent of its original chemical weapons at the Pine Bluff Arsenal since 1942. Destruction of the last chemical weapons occurred on November 12, 2010.
Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) is a U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command storage facility for conventional munitions and chemical weapons. The facility is located in east central Kentucky, southeast of the cities of Lexington and Richmond, Kentucky. The 14,494-acre (58.66 km2) site, composed mainly of open fields and wooded areas, is used for munitions storage, repair of general supplies, and the disposal of munitions. The installation is used for the storage of conventional explosive munitions as well as assembled chemical weapons. The depot primarily is involved in industrial and related activities associated with the storage and maintenance of conventional and chemical munitions.
Anniston Chemical Activity was a U.S. Army chemical weapon storage site located in Alabama. The Army had stored approximately seven percent of the nation’s original chemical weapons stockpile at the Anniston Army Depot since the early 1960s. In August 2003, the Army began disposing of these weapons at the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility. Destruction of the base's stockpile of VX was begun on July 23, 2006. By December 2008, all of the VX on site had been destroyed. Destruction of mustard-filled munitions began on July 2, 2009 after several months of retooling. By July 2010, it had destroyed by incineration 75% of the depot's total stockpile including all 437 tons of GB (sarin) and all VX nerve agent on site. On September 22, 2011, the last mustard gas shells were burned, completing chemical weapons disposal at the facility. The facilities were scheduled for dismantlement by about 2013 and some of the weapon-handling equipment was planned for transfer to the depots at Kentucky and Colorado. Local government emergency departments are expecting to lose millions in annual funding from the federal government related to the presence of the chemical depot and as many as 1000 jobs will be cut on the base. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers the disposal and closure of Anniston Chemical Activity were completed on May 7, 2013. Following the closure, other uses for the incinerators were explored, but ultimately they were demolished.
Operation Red Hat was a United States Department of Defense movement of chemical warfare munitions from Okinawa, Japan to Johnston Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, which occurred in 1971.
The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) is a facility built to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD), near Richmond, Kentucky.
The M55 rocket was a chemical weapon developed by the United States in the 1950s. The United States Army produced both Sarin and VX unitary warheads for the M55.
Operation Steel Box, also known as Operation Golden Python, was a 1990 joint U.S.–West German operation which moved over 100,000 U.S. chemical weapons from Germany to Johnston Atoll.
The M34 cluster bomb was the first mass-produced United States Army weapon meant to deliver the chemical agent sarin (GB). A large stockpile of M34s was destroyed between 1973 and 1976.
The Weteye bomb was a U.S. chemical weapon designed for the U.S. Navy and meant to deliver the nerve agent sarin. The Weteye held 160 kg (350 lb) of liquid sarin and was officially known as the Mk 116. Stockpiles of Weteyes were transferred to Utah in the 1980s amidst controversy and protest.
The MC-1 bomb was the first U.S. non-clustered air-dropped chemical munition. The 750-pound (340 kg) MC-1 was first produced in 1959 and carried the nerve agent sarin.
The Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives is responsible for the safe and environmentally sound destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles previously stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot, Kentucky, and the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot, Colorado. In 1996, the United States Congress established the ACWA program to test and demonstrate alternative technologies to baseline incineration for the destruction of chemical weapons. The ACWA program oversaw the design and construction of the two chemical weapons destruction pilot plants – the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) in Colorado and the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) in Kentucky. As of July 7, 2023, PCAPP and BGCAPP have both concluded destruction of their respective stockpiles of chemical weapons. PEO ACWA will continue to oversee both plants through their closure phases, each estimated to take three to four years.
Throughout history, chemical weapons have been used as strategic weaponry to devastate the enemy in times of war. After the mass destruction created by WWI and WWII, chemical weapons have been considered to be inhumane by most nations, and governments and organizations have undertaken to locate and destroy existing chemical weapons. However, not all nations have been willing to cooperate with disclosing or demilitarizing their inventory of chemical weapons. Since the start of the worldwide efforts to destroy all existing chemical weapons, some nations and terrorist organizations have used and threatened the use of chemical weapons to leverage their position. Examples of the use of chemical weapons since World War II are Iraq’s Saddam Hussein on the Kurdish village Halabja in 1988 and their employment against civilian passengers of the Tokyo subway by Aum Shinrikyo in 1995. The efforts made by the United States and other chemical weapon destruction agencies intend to prevent such use, but this is a difficult and ongoing effort. Aside from the difficulties of cooperation and locating chemical weapons, the methods to destroy the weapons and to do this safely are also a challenge.
The 267th Chemical Company was a military unit of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps responsible for the surety of chemical warfare agents dubbed "RED HAT" deployed to the Islands of Okinawa, Japan and subsequently Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. A recently discovered Army document reveals that the true mission of the 267th Chemical Company was the operation of the Okinawa deployment site as part Project 112. Project 112 was a 1960s biological warfare field test program that was conducted by the Deseret Test Center. Okinawa is not listed as a test site under Project 112 by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The United States chemical weapons program began in 1917 during World War I with the creation of the U.S. Army's Gas Service Section and ended 73 years later in 1990 with the country's practical adoption of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons began in 1986 and was completed on July 7, 2023. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD), at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, continues to operate.
