Posted on: Monday, August 6, 2001

Army chemical unit shuts down

Advertiser Staff

A U.S. Army unit that guarded chemical weapons transported to Johnston Island has closed out 30 years of involvement.

Maj. Gen. Craig Whelden, deputy commanding general for U.S. Army Pacific, presided over Wednesday's U.S. Army Chemical Activity, Pacific, inactivation ceremony.

Seven percent of the United States' stockpile of chemical weapons was stored on Johnston, 825 miles southwest of Hawai'i.

Chemical weapons were shipped to the island for storage from Okinawa in 1971, West Germany in 1990 and the Solomon Islands in 1991.

Through November last year, the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System incinerated without serious incident more than 400,000 rockets, projectiles, bombs, mortars and mines containing Sarin and VX nerve gas and blister agent.

U.S. Army Chemical Activity, Pacific, a Hawai'i-based unit, transported and guarded those weapons.

"This is a significant achievement for the Army after having successfully and safely destroyed thousands of chemical munitions built up during the Cold War years," Whelden said. "It shows the versatility of the Army and illustrates our ability to not just prosecute war but also to preserve and enhance peace."

The Chemical Activity supported the chemical agent disposal system, which was completed in 1990 and was the nation's first fully integrated facility for the disposal of chemical weapons.

The federal government is now in the process of closing down the plant in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

All Chemical Activity property has been shipped off Johnston Island, and the last soldier will depart Aug. 17.