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    HomeAmericasUnited StatesUS Prepares to Destroy One of its Last Chemical Weapons Caches

    US Prepares to Destroy One of its Last Chemical Weapons Caches

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    US

    The US will soon begin the process of destroying one of its last remaining caches of chemical weapons. Over 100,000 rockets, shells and other weapons containing poisonous agents have been stored at a Kentucky facility since the mid-20th century.

    “I must say, this is a day I wasn't quite sure we were going to see at various points,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said at a Wednesday ceremony at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky. “Now, after many years, the safety we worked so hard for is finally in sight.”

    Blue Grass is home to 523 tons of chemical weapons, including such deadly compounds as mustard gas and the nerve agents sarin and VX. Under the terms of the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997, these are Schedule 1 substances, and are limited to only 1 ton of each for scientific and medical purposes, since they have no legitimate use other than as weapons.

    McConnell has struggled with the Army since the 1990s to get the weapons destroyed in a way safe for nearby residents, including Kentucky's second-largest of Lexington, home to roughly 320,000 people. WKYT reported that the Army wanted to incinerate the weapons, but McConnell pushed back.

    The $60 million Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant was completed by Bechtel and Parsons in 2015, and over 1,200 workers have spent the past four years testing and re-testing machines and procedures…

    Continue Reading This Article At Sputnik News

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