Posted on: Saturday, March 19, 2005
Answers on vials likely by next week
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Army specialists are testing more than 100 glass vials found in Honolulu and expect to know their chemical content early next week. Already, though, they believe the vials may have been training tools used for decades to teach soldiers how to safely handle chemical weapons.
Anyone finding glass vials with an unknown substance should call either 911 or the health department at 586-4249. "The vials are in a safe and secure area," said Lt. Col. Franz Amann, commander of the 22nd Chemical Battalion. "Since the tests are non-intrusive, they pose no threat to the environment or the public."
Similar vials were used to train soldiers in the safe handling, identification and decontamination of chemical warfare agents, according to the Army. Approximately 110,000 sets were produced between 1928 and 1969 and used nationwide.
They were intended as disposable training aids, so were not inventoried and documented as chemical weapons. They contain a variety of substances from water to industrial agents to chemical agents.
In some cases, after use in training, sets or single glass vials or bottles were buried, stored in warehouses or taken by soldiers as war memorabilia.
In the early 1980s, the Army recovered and destroyed nearly 22,000 vials. However, since all of them have not been accounted for, discoveries continue.
The fire department's hazardous materials crews removed the vials from the Wilhelmina Rise home and from PF Marine, at 50 E. Sand Island Access Road.
The vials were taken inside a triple-sealed container system to Wheeler Army Airfield under police escort.
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
A team from the Army's 22nd Chemical Battalion arrived in Honolulu this week from Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and is examining 76 glass vials recovered Thursday from a home on Wilhelmina Rise and an additional 30 vials recovered from a business on Sand Island.
Find any?
