Government changes access policy to Blue Grass Army Depot- Chemical Warfare Facility in US

You can read the full article here : WAVE 3

A Kentucky Army facility housing deadly chemical weapons is now off limits to the media and the public. That word comes from the Secretary of Defense days after the WAVE 3 Troubleshooter requested access to it. This is a change from past practice. For years, Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond gave media tours to its chemical destruction plant. WAVE 3 News asked for one last week as part of our special report. Monday, a spokesperson told me media tours to the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction plant, about 100 miles from Louisville, and a similar facility in Colorado have been temporarily suspended.

Since the 1990s, the U.S. Government successfully destroyed chemical weapon stockpiles at seven of its military sites. However, there are still 523 tons of chemical agents at Blue Grass Army Depot. It is the only place where the U.S. military still keeps Sarin and VX, the most lethal toxic agents.

So, why the sudden change? Does anyone buy it is because they do not want comparisons between Syria and the US?? Or is there something else going on?

I live very near to this depot. I did not know until today that there is Sarin there.

Another question...why do we stockpile 523 tons (per the attached article) of chemical weapons? Who are we going to use them on or more importantly supply them to?

This whole thing does not sit well with me.

What are your thoughts?

reply to post by k21968

This whole thing does not sit well with me.

And why should it, sounds like an accident waiting to happen at the very least.

The anti-oil people go ass-over-elbow about pipelines that could leak oil, where is the outrage on a subject so toxic (no pun intended).

I also don't see an application for the stockpile. We wouldn't deploy it aggressively and it is certainly not functioning as any kind of active deterrent.

I don't understand why it persists in usable form at a would-be decommissioning plant.

reply to post by greencmp


That is exactly what I think. Why do we even have it? I lived in Germany from 1990-1996. I can tell you now my husband worked at nuke site and there was a chemical weapons depot right up the road. It was the cold war. When it ended and Germany unified, the weapons were sent to the US for destruction. It is now 2013. 17 years later and we still have them??

This depot is about an hour and a half from my home. We the public have thought it was now empty and was used primarily for training police officers for the state of Kentucky.

Wave 3 news is on to something.

The timing, if nothing else, is enough to make you go hmmm. Why not have full transparency if you have nothing to hide. Apparently it is public knowledge there is over 500 tons of chemicals weapons still there. What are they hiding and why??

I am now wondering if this is where the rebels in Syria got their chemical weapons. It all makes sense. Obama would not bomb the same people he supplied them to now would he?

I might be grasping at straws but man, this really rattled me.

reply to post by k21968

This depot is about an hour and a half from my home. We the public have thought it was now empty and was used primarily for training police officers for the state of Kentucky.

Oh goodness gracious, this makes my conspira-senses tingle. Are there state police coming and going from this facility on a regular basis? What led you to believe it was a training ground?

Not to scare you, I just can't let things like that go un-highlighted.

reply to post by k21968


I also live very near the depot and while I have some knowledge of the place - I have several friends and family members who've worked there in the past - I had no idea there was Sarin stored there, either! To think I've lived within 20 miles of it, on and off for my entire life, and I find out about the Sarin on ATS. Go figure, lol.

I have always been uncomfortable knowing what could happen if there was a major leak there, or worse yet, if there was a terrorist attack. I understand why locals are concerned about it being incinerated locally, but I wish they'd get rid of it. I'm glad you posted about this. I hadn't heard about it elsewhere!

k21968
reply to post by greencmp

Cool, makes me feel better. I don't know enough about the layout of the installation but, I assume there aren't any security issues regarding the dual use of the facility.

edit on 16-9-2013 by greencmp because: (no reason given)

reply to post by gemineye


Well, you wont like this...

LEAK

or this....

leak 2

or this..

www.democraticunderground.com...

or ESPECIALLY this..

www.ens-newswire.com...

Sarin leak...but from the same article (the last one in the list)

The United Nations classifies Sarin as a weapon of mass destruction. Its production and stockpiling was outlawed in 1993

Isnt Bluegrass Army Depot STOCKPILING it?? I mean, sure they tell the UN they are holding it for destruction...for 20 years...they are not stock piling.

I am really really really smelling a rat now.

The UN can tell other countries to not have it...but we just "hold on to ours" for 20 years while we SLOWLY destroy it...nah, that is not stockpiling...

gemineye
reply to post by k21968

 

I also live very near the depot and while I have some knowledge of the place - I have several friends and family members who've worked there in the past - I had no idea there was Sarin stored there, either! To think I've lived within 20 miles of it, on and off for my entire life, and I find out about the Sarin on ATS. Go figure, lol.

I have always been uncomfortable knowing what could happen if there was a major leak there, or worse yet, if there was a terrorist attack. I understand why locals are concerned about it being incinerated locally, but I wish they'd get rid of it. I'm glad you posted about this. I hadn't heard about it elsewhere!

I would assume they don't simply incinerate it, that may be the reason it is still integrated. Same reason for leaving used fuel rods onsite at nuclear plants. Also, though, the main reason the fuel rods stay onsite is because transporting them is too dangerous so how did they get over 500 tons of sarin and vx into there in the first place? Must have been a while ago.

reply to post by greencmp


I know that answer for fact from first hand experience. I lived in Germany during the cold war. The US had MANY chemical and nuke sites throughout what was then West Germany. When the unification occurred, the chemicals were moved to the US for destruction per the UN.

It appears they were moved here..but ...not many destroyed. I would love to see data on the beginning and current totals of WMD that have been at Bluegrass.

My curiosity is peaked!

What are your thoughts?

The US should seize this moment and announce we are going to destroy all our chem weapons. This may put us in a better light globally, and a better position to condemn them. What do we need them for these days anyway?

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


I agree. That is not their intention if they are locking out the media. And it really does not show good faith by doing that either.

speculativeoptimist

What are your thoughts?

The US should seize this moment and announce we are going to destroy all our chem weapons. This may put us in a better light globally, and a better position to condemn them. What do we need them for these days anyway?

Now that there is good old fashioned idea. Why don't we do that?

Still some technical difficulties and it is in your backyard so, assuming it could be done politically, what is the most feasible and safest way to do it considering your (or anybody's but we are talking about you here) proximity to the facility?

speculativeoptimist

What are your thoughts?

What do we need them for these days anyway?

Apparently we sell them to rebels in Syria.

reply to post by greencmp

Here in Oregon they did destroy our inventory and the plant now serves to destroy other stockpiles that are shipped in from other states. It did take 8 years to dispose of it all at a rate of:

The facility destroyed 220,604 munitions and containers containing 3,717 tons of GB, HD and VX via high-temperature incineration, representing 100 percent of the base's stockpile.[2] While destroying 50% of its stockpile took six years (until August 2010), the processing of the second 50% was expected to take only two years.

en.wikipedia.org...
I would gladly support a national movement to destroy all stock. I do not see any justification for maintaining this stuff.

ETA: Holy Moly, just realized we are tearing this facility down!
nwnewsnetwork.org...

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Everything I have read said there are only two facilities with chemical weapons in the US. This one in Kentucky and one in Colorado left.

If it takes 6 years to incerate 1/2 of 300 tons... then by all reasoning it should take about 8 more years to get rid of the stockpile in Kentucky alone.

My point is they have had plenty of time to do it. Why havent they???

reply to post by k21968

Good question, I will dig into this a bit more and try find an answer. I suspect it's because it costs a lot of mula and oversight to destroy this stuff and no one is in a hurry to step up.

speculativeoptimist

What are your thoughts?

The US should seize this moment and announce we are going to destroy all our chem weapons. This may put us in a better light globally, and a better position to condemn them. What do we need them for these days anyway?

We are destroying them. Steadily. Slowly. The problem is...we do have SO MUCH of it and we got SO good at making it as lethal as possible ...for something already starting nightmarish.

One boo boo...just one time. One seal failing during operation or someone hitting the wrong switch, and enough crap could be on the air to kill a whole lot of Americans with something never intended to be used on OUR people...and now, not intended to be used on anyone.

Why usable form? .....How else would it be? The stuff is literally too dangerous to be disassembling and moving around that way until it's time to destroy it altogether. Especially VX. Sarin fades.... It goes away fairly quick, in fact. It's a killer weapon. VX is described as much as Area Denial by chemical munition as a direct kill weapon. Development videos from the D.O.D. indicate it could be used as a Chemical equivalent to land mines. In other words, if ever released by accident? It'll be the gift to keep on giving in the worst imaginable ways.

I'm happy if they take another 10 ...if it means not a single accident I'd consider significant as a citizen, happens during the process. (WHY did we make so many thousands and thousands upon many more thousands of them? Yikes... Did some moron imagine a world like a Command and Conquer video game with Tiberium holding for VX?!)

My father actually worked at the Colorado Depot named PCAPP (Peublo Chemical Army Pilot Plant) [think that's how it was called] and now works at the Bluegrass facility. I can try to ask my father to see if any weird happenings have been going on. Will check back in to this thread after I get some info.

reply to post by k21968


Thanks for posting this! Something about that Bluegrass site has bothered me for quite some time now. They are definately up to something, I wouldn't be surprised if those "stockpiles" are making their way to the east to further the agenda.

Here is a link to The U.S. Army Chemical Magerials Activity website,
CMA

The Blue Grass Chemical Activity (BGCA), a tenant organization of the depot that reports to the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity (CMA), is responsible for the safe, secure storage of the chemical weapons stockpile stored at the depot, which comprises 523 tons of nerve agents GB and VX, and mustard agent in projectiles, warheads and rockets.

Nerve agents GB and VX, and mustard agent in projectiles, warheads and rockets...things are starting to add up.