United States Army Chemical Materials Agency

The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency [http://www.cma.army.mil/home.aspx] ("CMA") is a United States Army organization originally chartered with both the storage and the disposal at all nine of the USA's chemical weapons stockpile locations. This changed in Fiscal Year 1997. Thereafter, the CMA charter became the storage mission for nine of the nine stockpile locations and the disposal operations at seven of the nine stockpile locations of the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons. In FY 1997 the Department of Defense established the Program Manager for Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessments, later renamed the Program Manager for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives ("PMACWA") [http://www.pmacwa.army.mil] , which is chartered with the disposal of the stockpile at two of the original nine stockpile locations. The CMA has completed the disposal mission of three of the original nine stockpile locations. Those three are: the stockpiles located previously on Johnston Atoll [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Johnston%20Island] (approximately 800 nautical miles SW from Oahu, Hawaii); at Aberdeen, Md., [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Maryland] and at Newport, Ind. [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Indiana] CMA has ongoing disposal operations occuring in Tooele, Utah, [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Utah] Pine Bluff, Ark., [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Arkansas] Anniston, Ala., [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Alabama] and Hermiston, Ore. [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Oregon] Each of these four locations is utilizing incineration as the primary means of disposal methodology. The PMACWA program is progressing its design and construction work at its two disposal sites: Pueblo, Colo., [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Colorado] and Richmond, Ky. [http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Kentucky] These two PMACWA sites will utilize neutralization as their primary means of disposal technology with Bioremediation as the secondary treatment for the Pueblo stockpile and Super Critical Water Oxidation (SCWO) as the secondary treatment for the Richmond stockpile.

CMA came into existence in approximately 2004 when the former "Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization (PMCD)" was combined with the former "U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command (SBCCOM)" and the resultant agency was named CMA.

Mission

The mission of the U.S. Army CMA is to enhance national security by securely storing and ultimately eliminating U.S. chemical warfare materiel, while protecting the work force, the public and the environment to the maximum extent.

CMA leads the world in chemical weapons destruction with a demonstrated history of safely storing, recovering, assessing and destroying U.S. chemical weapons and related materials. CMA manages destruction of all U.S. chemical weapons stockpiles except for the two that fall under the Department of Defense’s Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives neutralization program. Through its Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program [http://www.cma.army.mil/csepp.aspx] (CSEPP), CMA works with local, state and federal emergency preparedness and response agencies at chemical weapon stockpile locations.

The Army operates its disposal activities under congressional direction. Federal agencies and the independent National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council, together with equivalent agencies at the state and local level, also are involved in regulation and oversight of aspects of the destruction program with the exception of fiscal management.

History

The U.S. Army established CMA as a major subcommand under the U.S. Army Materiel Command [http://www.army.mil/institution/organization/unitsandcommands/commandstructure/amc/] (AMC) and also as a reporting element of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology [https://www.alt.army.mil/portal/page/portal/oasaalt] (ASA(ALT)). The Army combined elements from the former U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command and the former Program Manager for Chemical Demilitarization to consolidate the Army’s chemical agent and munitions storage and demilitarization functions under a single organization.

Organization

CMA headquarters is based at the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground [http://www.apg.army.mil/apghome/sites/local/] in Maryland. CMA site teams are located at the individual stockpile locations where storage and destruction takes place as shown below.

Destruction

CMA is responsible for two distinct chemical weapons destruction projects.

The Project Manager Chemical Stockpile Elimination [http://www.cma.army.mil/csep.aspx] manages the safe treatment and disposal of chemical weapons using incineration and neutralization technologies.

"Incineration" was selected as the Army’s chemical weapons disposal technology in 1985 based on rigorous tests and comparisons of various technologies. Anniston, Ala., Pine Bluff, Ark., Umatilla, Ore., and Tooele, Utah, use incineration for chemical weapons destruction. The first incineration facility was built on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean and safely completed destruction operations in November 2000. The facility was dismantled and the atoll was returned to its natural state and serves as a wildlife refuge.

"Neutralization" was first selected as an alternative to incineration for bulk agent storage sites. Depending on the type of agent to be destroyed, neutralization destroys the chemical agent by mixing it with hot water or hot water and sodium hydroxide. The industrial wastewater produced by the process, known as hydrolysate, is sent to a permitted commercial hazardous waste storage, treatment and disposal facility for treatment and disposal. This process was used safely in Edgewood, Md., to eliminate its entire stockpile of mustard agent and in Newport, Ind., to eliminate its entire stockpile of VX nerve agent. Both the mustard agent stockpile in Edgewood and the VX nerve agent stockpile in Newport were stored in large steel containers without explosives or other weapon components. Neutralization is the selected method for the Department of Defense’s Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives facilities in Pueblo, Colo., and Richmond, Ky. The Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project [http://www.cma.army.mil/nscmp.aspx] (NSCMP) was founded in 1992 to provide centralized management and direction to the Department of Defense for the destruction of declared non-stockpile chemical materiel in a safe, environmentally sound and cost-effective manner. The project’s responsibilities include assessment and treatment of recovered chemical warfare materiel declared prior to entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention [http://www.cwc.gov/] (CWC), an international treaty signed by the United States. NSCMP’s non-intrusive assessment systems identify the chemical agent fill of recovered items and the presence or absence of explosive components, allowing for proper handling and treatment. The items can be treated in an on-site system that contains any blast, agent and vapor.

NSCMP is best known for its history of responding to chemical weapons recovered at military installations, former defense sites and communities. NSCMP’s highly specialized equipment is employed in a manner that protects workers, citizens and the environment.

In December 2006, NSCMP successfully completed demolition of the nation’s former chemical warfare production facilities. In November 2007, it successfully completed destruction of the binary chemical weapon inventory.

Storage

CMA is responsible for the safe storage of the nation’s entire chemical weapons stockpile before its ultimate destruction. CMA manages a National Inventory Control Point and National Maintenance Point to ensure the stockpile is maintained safely and securely during its remaining storage life.

CMA partners with the Department of Homeland Security through CSEPP to ensure effective emergency preparedness of the communities surrounding the stockpile storage sites. CSEPP provides funding for chemical accident response equipment and warning systems. CSEPP also oversees yearly community-wide emergency preparedness exercises at all of the stockpile sites and works with communities to conduct public education activities to enable residents to respond appropriately in the unlikely event of a chemical stockpile incident.

International Cooperation

CMA is meeting its commitment as outlined in the 1997 CWC, which more than 180 nations have signed as their pledge to rid the world of this class of weapons. CMA also shares lessons learned through its reporting to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons [http://www.opcw.org/] which is charged with implementing the CWC. Finally, CMA participates in the annual international Chemical Weapons Destruction Conference in which experts from CWC member nations share technology and lessons learned.

= External Links =

[http://www.cma.army.mil/home.aspx Chemical Materials Agency Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/csep.aspx CMA Project Manager Chemical Stockpile Elimination Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/csepp.aspx CMA Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program Web Page]

[http://www.fema.gov/government/grant/csepp.shtm Federal Emergency Management Agency Home Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/nscmp.aspx CMA Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiels Project Web Page]

[http://www.pmacwa.army.mil Program Manager Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives Web Page]

[http://www.army.mil/institution/organization/unitsandcommands/commandstructure/amc/ Army Materiel Command Web Page]

[https://www.alt.army.mil/portal/page/portal/oasaalt Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Web Page]

[http://www.cwc.gov/ Chemical Weapons Convention Web Page]

[http://www.opcw.org/ Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Johnston%20Island CMA Hawaii/Johnston Atoll Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Maryland CMA Maryland/Aberdeen Proving Ground Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Indiana CMA Indiana/Newport Chemical Depot Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Kentucky CMA Kentucky/Blue Grass Chemical Activity Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Arkansas CMA Arkansas/Pine Bluff Chemical Activity Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Alabama CMA Alabama/Anniston Chemical Activity Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Colorado CMA Colorado/Pueblo Chemical Depot Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Utah CMA Utah/Deseret Chemical Depot Web Page]

[http://www.cma.army.mil/state.aspx?state=Oregon CMA Oregon/Umatilla Chemical Depot Web Page]