Introduction - Occupational Health and Workplace Monitoring at Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities - page 4

on Johnston Island, located in the Pacific Ocean ap-
proximately 825 miles southwest of Hawaii. The
JACADS facility, which recently completed its dis-
posal mission and will soon start closure procedures,
has had a twofold mission:
•

dunnage, they are moved to a munitions processing
area where they are mechanically disassembled and
drained, yielding three material streams: agent, ener-
getics, and metal parts, each of which is processed in a
different incinerator or electrically heated furnace. Al-
though energetics and metal parts may be contaminated
by residual agent, the vast majority of agent (95 per-
cent or more) is usually recovered during the draining
procedure. 4 A detailed description of the TOCDF sys-
tem and an analysis of its first three years of operation
can be found in the recent NRC report, Tooele Chemi-
cal Agent Disposal Facility: Update on National Re-
search Council Recommendations (NRC, 1999a).
The same technology operating at TOCDF, with
minor modifications, is now being implemented at
three other storage sites (Anniston, Alabama; Umatilla,
Oregon; and Pine Bluff, Arkansas). Both mustard and
nerve agents are stored at these sites along with signifi-
cant numbers of munitions filled with agent.
The stockpile (HD) at Aberdeen, Maryland, and the
stockpile (VX) at Newport, Indiana, contain only the
bulk chemical agents indicated in parentheses. At these
facilities, the Army has decided to use chemical neu-
tralization (hydrolysis) as the primary agent destruc-
tion method, followed by biological treatment at Aber-
deen and supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) at
Newport. A description of the process technology de-
signs for these facilities, and the Stockpile Committee's
evaluation of these designs, can be found in Integrated
Design of Alternative Technologies for Bulk-Only
Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities (NRC, 2000a).
Disposal technologies have not yet been selected for
stockpile storage sites at Pueblo, Colorado, and Blue
Grass, Kentucky. In addition to modified incineration
technology, several alternative disposal technologies
are being considered for implementation at these sites.
The alternatives are discussed in two recent NRC re-
ports (NRC, 1999b, 2000b).

to serve as a demonstration facility for the
baseline incineration system

• to destroy the chemical agents and munitions

stored on Johnston Island (completed in
November 2000)

The successful demonstration of the baseline sys-
tem at JACADS led to a second-generation incinera-
tion system now operating at the TOCDF in Tooele,
Utah, that incorporated improvements based on
JACADS operating experience, advances in the
baseline technology, and recommendations by the
Stockpile Committee. The design of these incineration
systems (JACADS and TOCDF) is also based on the
idea that the performance and safety of disposal opera-
tions would be greatly enhanced if stockpile feed mate-
rials were separated into distinct streams of agent, en-
ergetic materials, metal parts, and dunnage (packing,
and associated waste material) prior to incineration. A
schematic drawing of the TOCDF system is shown in
Figure 1-2 (NRC, 1999a). Systemization at the TOCDF
began in August 1993, and agent operations began on
August 22, 1996. Prior to the start of agent operations,
a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) and a health risk
assessment (HRA) were conducted (U.S. Army, 1996a;
Utah DSHW, 1996). 3
In the TOCDF system, feed materials are separated
inside a building with areas capable of withstanding
explosions. The pressure in these and other areas where
agent may be present is controlled to be lower than the
ambient atmospheric pressure to prevent leakage from
the building to the outside atmosphere. Two methods
are used to remove agents from munitions and contain-
ers via remote control. Most containers are simply me-
chanically punched and drained. Projectiles, however,
are not punched; following separation from associated

CHEMICAL DEMILITARIZATION WORKFORCE

A substantial workforce is or will be involved in the
operation of JACADS, CAMDS, and the eight conti-
nental U.S. chemical disposal facilities. The Army has
estimated that total employment, counting both operat-
ing contractor and Army oversight personnel at the

3 The TOCDF QRA estimates the risk to the public and work-
ers from accidental releases of chemical agent associated with all
activities during storage at DCD and throughout the disposal pro-
cess at the TOCDF. The HRA, which was conducted by the Utah
Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste (Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality), is a screening analysis to estimate possible
off-site human health risks associated with exposure to airborne
emissions from the TOCDF under normal and upset conditions.
The HRA also estimates risks to wildlife and the environment.

4 At JACADS, recovery of HD from projectiles was difficult
because of agent solidification, which necessitated modifications
in disposal procedures.