NEWS OF THE WEEK CHEMICAL WEAPONS
DESTROYING MUSTARD GAS Mercury-tainted agent prompts method change at Utah facility ON HOLD This 1-ton tank contains aging mustard gas that will be destroyed at Tooele, Utah, beginning in summer 2005.
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HE DISCOVERY OF HIGH
levels of mercury in its mustard gas stocks at Tooele, Utah, isforcingthe Army to make more than $50 million in modifications to its incinerator-based destruction facility. Despite the changes, the Army claims it will be able to meet its 2007 deadline for destroying all chemical weapons stored atlboele, ifprocessing mustard gas begins in spring 2005. Nearly half ofTooele's original 13,500-ton stockpile is mustard gas. Most of the mustard gas— about 92%—is stored in 6,400 1-ton containers, and 75% of these hold mercury-free agent. The bulk containers storing mercury-tainted mustard gas came from the Army's Rocky Mountain Arsenal, where the agent was produced. The Army believes this mustard agent was
stored in recycled but incompletely cleaned containers that had previously been used to deliver mercuric chloride for other production processes. Bulk containers with no or low levels ofmercury will be processed using the incineration method currently being employed to destroy the nerve agent VX. This same method has already destroyed all ofTooele's sarin nerve gas. The approximately 1,600 containers storing mercury-contaminated mustard agent will be processed differently First, the containers will be drained of agent and then washed out. The drained agent will be destroyed in one of Tooele's two liquid incinerators that has been fitted with a mercury filtration system to prevent release of mercury to the air. Mercury will be removed from
NANOTECHNOLOGY
A Rose By Any Other Name? anotechnology may be the next big thing, but the sweet smell of success is being used to promote nearly worthless stocks, charges Asensio & Co. The New York City-based investment banking firm has asked New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to investigate misuse of the nano label. Asensio charges that nanotechnology "has become a favorite, and successful, term among America's most fraudulent stock promoters." The firm has reason to want to stop such hype: It makes money by publishing critical reports on stocks that it believes are overvalued and "short selling" them—betting that they will drop in price. In documents sent to Spitzer, Asensio charges that the Wall Street firm Merrill Lynch created a report on nanotechnology and introduced a Nanotechnology Index that artificially
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raised some stock prices. Two companies on the index are not even involved in nanotechnology, Asensio claims. Four others "are questionable penny-stock promotions," and one "is involved in a controversy pertaining to simultaneous large insider stock sales and the issuance of false claims." The authors of the Merrill Lynch report admit that, "like the Internet, nanotech risks being overhyped." But, they say, "nanotechnology could be the next growth innovation following on the heels of information technology." Merrill Lynch says it is investigating Asensio's objections to its report and index and has assured the smaller firm "that we take your letter seriously." The New York State Attorney General's Office says that, in cases like this, it reviews the charges and decides whether an investigation is warranted.—MARC REISCH
the so-called washout water and sent to a regulated commercial hazardous waste facility for disposal. The washout water containing diluted mustard agent will then be neutralized and the hydrolysates destroyed in the modified incinerator. According to Gregory Mahall, spokesman for the Army's Chemical Materials Agency, modification of the liquid incinerator 'Svill begin this fall and will be completed by spring 2005." Once the Army receives the modified operating permits that it needs from Utah, it will begin destroying mustard agent, a process it expects to complete by December 2007. "When all the mustard agent is destroyed, all ofTooele's stockpile will be gone," Mahall says. In addition to mercury-tainted agent, some of the problematic 1-ton containers may after 50 years of storage, also contain gelled mustard agent and/or sulfur-containing sludge, which the Army calls "heels." These heels will be disposed ofusing the modified incinerator. The metal containers themselves will be destroyed in a metal parts furnace, which will have to be modified to accept containers tainted with mercury or sludge. For example, water sprays for combustion control and airflows will have to be upgraded. These upgrades also will require a stateapproved modified operating permit to allow for the increased feed limits that will be needed. The Army will also have to get Utah-approved modified operating permits for the liquid incinerator fitted with mercuryfiltersand for the neutralization process. According to Mahall, the Army could request permit modifications as early as this summer. Dale Ormond, the Army's site manager at Tooele, has already briefed Utah regulators and state and local officials about the Army's plans for destroying mustard gas. Ormond will address Utah's Citizens' Advisory Commission next month.-L0IS EMBER HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
