Pine Bluff Arsenal is one of nine Army installations in the United States that stored chemical weapons.[1] The arsenal supplies specialized production, storage, maintenance and distribution of readiness products, and delivers technical services to the Armed Forces and Homeland Security. It also designs, manufactures and refurbishes smoke, riot control, and incendiary munitions, as well as chemical/biological defense operations items. It serves as a technology center for illuminating and infrared munitions and is also the only place in the Northern Hemisphere where white phosphorus munitions are filled. Its Homeland Security mission includes first-responder equipment training and surveillance of pre-positioned equipment.
History
World War II
The Pine Bluff Arsenal was established on November 2, 1941, for the manufacture of incendiary grenades and bombs. 5,000 acres, purchased from local physician James W. John, Sr, served as the foundation for the site. It was originally named the Chemical Warfare Arsenal but was renamed four months later.[2] The mission expanded to include production and storage of pyrotechnic, riot control, and chemical-filled munitions. At the height of World War II, the plant expanded from making magnesium and thermite incendiary munitions to a chemical warfare manufacturing facility as well, producing lethal gases and chemical compounds installed in artillery shells and specifically designed bombs.[3]
Cold War and late 20th century
In an incident after World War II, several captured German rockets containing mustard agents were accidentally launched into the surrounding countryside.[citation needed]Biological weapons operations were conducted at the arsenal from 1953 to 1969;[2] but operations ceased when PresidentNixon banned biological weapons.[3] Between 1954 and 1967, at least seven different biological agents were produced at the facility. All biological agents were destroyed between 1971 and 1973.[4]
The Pine Bluff Arsenal chemical weapons stockpile consisted of declared quantities of rockets, land mines, and ton containers. These obsolete weapons were safely stored in high-security structures and carefully monitored until the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency completed their safe elimination in November 2010. The arsenal also safely stored other items classified as non-stockpile chemical materiel, which is not part of the nation's chemical weapons stockpile. The U.S. Army Chemical Material Agency completed a number of treaty-mandated chemical warfare disposal operations at the arsenal, described below.
Pine Bluff Ton Container Decontamination Facility (PBTCDF): The PBTCDF began operations in September 2003, with the mission of decontaminating and recycling more than 4,300 short tons (3,900t) containers (TCs) stored at the arsenal. The 1,600lb (730kg) steel containers once held hazardous materials and required decontamination for residual chemical agent hazard. Operators heated the TCs to 1,000°F (538°C) for 60 minutes, well in excess of the standard required by the Army to achieve chemical agent decontamination. This process significantly reduced liquid waste. Once decontaminated, TCs were loaded onto trailers for transport to a treatment, storage and disposal facility. There, they were cut in half, any remaining residue was removed, and the steel was recycled. PBTCDF successfully completed operations in July 2011; one result of this process was the recycling of more than 6,500,000lb (3,200 short tons; 2,900t) of steel.
Pine Bluff Explosive Destruction System (PBEDS): PBEDS began operations in June 2006 to destroy more than 1,200 recovered chemical warfare munitions at the arsenal, the largest inventory of recovered chemical warfare materiel in the nation. The system involved three Explosive Destruction System (EDS) units, each set up in a vapor containment structure. The EDS uses cutting charges to explosively access chemical munitions, eliminating their explosive capacity before the chemical agent is neutralized. The PBEDS inventory included 4.2-inch mortars as well as German Traktor rockets, which were captured during World War II. PBEDS operators destroyed the last munition in April 2010, marking the destruction of all non-stockpile materiel declared when the United States entered into the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
While empty today, 1,600-pound steel containers stored at Pine Bluff Arsenal once held hazardous materials and required decontamination. Operators decontaminated the last 4,307 ton containers in July 2011.
Pine Bluff Former Production Facilities: The arsenal once housed two chemical warfare production facilities, and NSCMP was charged with destroying them to comply with the CWC. Destroyed in 1999, the BZ Fill Facility filled munitions with the agent BZ, a hallucinogen. In 2003, NSCMP began demolition of the former Pine Bluff Integrated Binary Production Facilities (PB IBPF), designed to produce binary chemicals and fill binary chemical weapons. These weapons were designed to mix two non-lethal chemicals to form a chemical agent in flight to a target. The DF Production/M20 Canister Fill and Close Facility was the only facility operated. From 1988 to 1990 it produced the binary precursor methylphosphonic difluoride (DF), inserting the chemical into coffee can-sized M20 canisters for use in the M687 155mm Binary Artillery Projectile. The BLU-80/B Bigeye Bomb Fill Facility, QL Production Facility and DC Production Facility never operated, and all were demolished. The final remaining PB IBPF building, intended to fill binary munitions for the Multiple Launch Rocket System, but never used for that purpose, was reutilized as the Pine Bluff Binary Destruction Facility (PB BDF), to neutralize the binary precursor chemicals DF and QL. After neutralization was completed in October 2006, demolition of the building commenced. Completed on Dec. 28, 2006, it marked the end of the PB IBPF demolition and the last former chemical warfare production facility destroyed in the United States. This accomplishment was significant since it enabled NSCMP to surpass the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) treaty milestone of demolition of all the nation's former production facilities four months ahead of schedule. Approximately 2,800 tons of metal were recycled from the IBPF.
Assessment: Contents of recovered items at the arsenal were identified using the Pine Bluff Munitions Assessment System (PBMAS). PBMAS determined the contents and explosive condition of items before processing to enhance safe handling, treatment and disposal. PBMAS began analyzing the items in July 2005, using an X-ray system known as Digital Radiography and Computed Tomography, along with an assessment system known as Portable Isotopic Neutron Spectroscopy. Prior to PBMAS, NSCMP also assessed 300 drums that contained recovered chemical warfare materiel, known as the XP300 mission.
Chemical Agent Identification Set (CAIS) Destruction: Another successful NSCMP mission at the arsenal included the Rapid Response System (RRS), a transportable treatment technology, which processed more than 5,300 CAIS items once stored at the arsenal. The RRS began operations in August 2005, and completed processing in November 2006. For decades the arsenal stored chemical agent rockets (GB55's). During the 1980s, these were defueled and the warheads were destroyed. Mustard agent, VX, G were stored in large bunkers on the premises.[5]
The Associated Press reported a leak in a container of white phosphorus was suspected to have ignited the fire that destroyed a warehouse at the Pine Bluff Arsenal on 6 June 2005. White smoke from the fire was seen as far away as 6mi (9.7km). When the fire was extinguished, approximately 19 hours later, officials reported the fire destroyed more than 7,500 canisters of white phosphorus. In the same article, AP reported the Pine Bluff Chemical Activity was home to 12 percent of the nation's chemical weapons stockpile."[6][7] This stockpile was safely destroyed March 2005 - November 2010.[8]
Facilities
Pine Bluff Arsenal has a total area of 13,493 acres (55km2; 21sqmi) with 665 buildings, 271 igloos and storage capacity of 2,090,563sqft (190,000m2). Additionally, Pine Bluff Arsenal has more than 5,000 acres (20km2; 7.8sqmi) of land with the potential to be developed. Most residents are civilians working for the Department of Defense.[9]
Capabilities
Capabilities of the center include: chemical defense and test equipment; individual and collective chemical protection and decontamination systems; chemical material surveillance program; machining, fabrication and assembly; specialty ammunition production; less than lethal ammunition production; and quality assurance and joint logistics services.
Related Research Articles
Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear, all of which are considered "weapons of mass destruction" (WMDs), a term that contrasts with conventional weapons.
The M687 was an American 155 mm binary sarin chemical artillery shell. The design was standardized in 1976 and production began on December 16, 1987 at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Production was halted three years later, following the 1990 Chemical Weapons Accord between the United States and the USSR, and the dismantling of existing stocks began in November 1997 at Hawthorne Army Depot, Nevada. America's remaining stocks were stored at the Deseret Chemical Depot, Utah, and the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
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.
The Deseret Chemical Depot was a U.S. Army chemical weapon storage area located in Utah, 60 miles (100 km) southwest of Salt Lake City. It is related to the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.
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.
The Pueblo Chemical Depot is a chemical weapons storage site located in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The Pueblo Chemical Depot was one of the last two sites in the United States with chemical munitions and chemical material. The Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) which is under the Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program destroyed its stockpile of 155mm and 105mm artillery shells and 4.2-inch mortars, all of which contained a form of the chemical agent mustard gas.
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.
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.
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.
Chemical Agent Identification Sets (CAIS), known by several other names, were sets of glass vials or bottles that contained small amounts of chemical agents. They were employed by all branches of the United States Armed Forces from 1928-1969 for the purpose of training in detection, handling and familiarization with chemical warfare. Most CAIS were destroyed in the 1980s but the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency still occasionally demilitarizes CAIS that are found buried.
The M44 generator cluster was an American chemical cluster bomb designed to deliver the incapacitating agent BZ. It was first mass-produced in 1962 and all stocks of the weapons were destroyed by 1989.
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.
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The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) is a chemical weapons destruction facility built to destroy the chemical weapons stockpile formerly stored at the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD) in southeastern Colorado. The stockpile originally contained 2,613 U.S. tons of mustard agent in 155mm projectiles, 105mm projectiles and 4.2-inch mortar rounds. The weapons had been stored at the 23,000-acre depot since the 1950s.
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.
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a weapon "or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action. Munitions or other delivery devices designed to deliver chemical weapons, whether filled or unfilled, are also considered weapons themselves."
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.
↑ Larsen, Jeff; Wirtz, James J.; Croddy, Eric (2005). Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History (2 volume set). ABC-CLIO. ISBN978-1-85109-490-5.
↑ Pine Bluff Chemical Activity and Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, What is Stockpile/Non-Stockpile, U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency Fact Sheet
↑ U.S. Army Completes Chemical Stockpile Destruction at Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency, News release, Nov. 15, 2010
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