Part I. The Cleanup of Chemical and Explosive Munitions Part II. Case Study: The American University Experiment Station (AUES): A Formerly Used Defense Site Appendices Bibliography.

Unexploded military ordnance and toxic chemicals, some dating back to the two World Wars, are a global concern, especially when former military bases are redeveloped for housing or other civilian uses. Internationally, there are the added challenges of cleanup of battlegrounds and minefields. Experts estimate that the United States alone could spend between $50–250 billion to clean up these sites, many of which are in areas of high population density, where the demand for land for development is high. This book is unique in providing detailed guidance for cleaning up military ordnance sites – listing explosives, chemical warfare materials and breakdown products which can contaminate soil and groundwater and the tests needed to detect them, as well as cleanup techniques. Also included are remote sensing techniques, geophysical techniques, safety issues, the particular challenges of chemical weapons, etc. The author illustrates these techniques with case studies, including former battlegrounds in Europe and Asia, storage and waste disposal sites in Russia and former Soviet territories, and an extended study of the remediation of the large and complex Spring Valley site in the District of Columbia,. The second edition has been fully revised and updated, and also includes new and expanded sections on: - geophysical techniques for discovering buried ordnance - underwater sites and remediation techniques - use of robotics, including remotely operated vehicles - compliance and regulatory issues - guidance documents from US Department of Defense and other sources The focus on test procedures, environmental remediation techniques, and learning from past case studies, makes Albright's book the most comprehensive and practical guide on the market for a topic of international importance. - The only book available with clear and complete guidance for the cleanup of military ordnance sites and battlefields - The author illustrates his recommendations with real world cases including Spring Valley, DC, former battlegrounds in Europe and Asia, and storage and waste disposal sites in Russia and other former Soviet states - An essential reference for the test and environmental remediation procedures required to put former military sites back in to civilian use (e.g. housing) - 30% revision, with key updates concerning regulatory changes, US Dept of Defense guidance documents, use of robotic vehicles, underwater sites and discovery of buried ordnance

The Chemical Weapons Convention requires, among other things, that the signatories to the conventionâ€"which includes the United Statesâ€"destroy by April 29, 2007, or as soon possible thereafter, any chemical warfare materiel that has been recovered from sites where it has been buried once discovered. For several years the United States and several other countries have been developing and using technologies to dispose of this non-stockpile materiel. To determine whether international efforts have resulted in technologies that would benefit the U.S. program, the U.S. Army asked the NRC to evaluate and compare such technologies to those now used by the United States. This book presents a discussion of factors used in the evaluations, summaries of evaluations of several promising international technologies for processing munitions and for agent-only processing, and summaries of other technologies that are less likely to be of benefit to the U.S. program at this time.

The U.S. military has a stockpile of approximately 400,000 tons of excess, obsolete, or unserviceable munitions. About 60,000 tons are added to the stockpile each year. Munitions include projectiles, bombs, rockets, landmines, and missiles. Open burning/open detonation (OB/OD) of these munitions has been a common disposal practice for decades, although it has decreased significantly since 2011. OB/OD is relatively quick, procedurally straightforward, and inexpensive. However, the downside of OB and OD is that they release contaminants from the operation directly into the environment. Over time, a number of technology alternatives to OB/OD have become available and more are in research and development. Alternative technologies generally involve some type of contained destruction of the energetic materials, including contained burning or contained detonation as well as contained methods that forego combustion or detonation. Alternatives for the Demilitarization of Conventional Munitions reviews the current conventional munitions demilitarization stockpile and analyzes existing and emerging disposal, treatment, and reuse technologies. This report identifies and evaluates any barriers to full-scale deployment of alternatives to OB/OD or non-closed loop incineration/combustion, and provides recommendations to overcome such barriers.

Unexploded military ordnance and toxic chemicals, some dating back to World War I, are a worldwide concern, especially at closed military bases that will be redeveloped for housing or civilian use. In Europe and Asia, many munitions sites are former battlegrounds; in Russia and its former territories, sites are used for storage and waste disposal. Experts estimate that the United States alone could spend between $50 and 250 billion dollars to cleanup these sites, many of which are in high-population density, residential areas. You might live near one such site right now. This book gives detailed instructions for cleaning up military ordnance sites, and lists of explosives, chemical warfare materials and breakdown products that the soil and groundwater must be tested for. Also included are archival studies; remote sensing techniques; geophysical techniques; safety issues; a chemical weapons, explosives and ordnance primer; known and unknown range lists; and a case study of documents written for cleaning up one of the worst examples yet: Spring Valley in the District of Columbia. It disproves myths, common misconceptions and lies, and explains what, how, and where to look for munitions and their residual contamination. * Author is an award winning and world-renowned expert in weapons of mass destruction.* Meets the needs of explosive and ordnance demolition personnel, as well as environmental scientists, insurance agents, and building contractors.* Includes the primary documents written (by the author) for the cleanup of one of the worst sites in the United States (Spring Valley, District of Columbia).* Subject of the book is of worldwide concern with former battlegrounds in Europe and Asia, as well as storage and waste disposal sites in Russia and former Soviet territories.* The only text available with clear and complete instructions on proper cleanup of military ordnance sites including a detailed list of explosives, chemical warfare material and breakdown products.

"Dr. Vilensky raises important concerns regarding the threats posed by lewisite and other weapons of mass destruction. As he describes, non-proliferation programs are a vital component in the War on Terror." -- Richard G. Lugar, United States Senator "Joel Vilensky's book is a detailed and immensely useful account of the development and history of one of the major chemical weapons.... We will always know how to make lewisite, the 'Dew of Death,' but that does not mean that we should, or be compelled to accept such weapons in our lives." -- from the Foreword by Richard Butler, former head of UN Special Commission to Disarm Iraq In 1919, when the Great War was over, the New York Times reported on a new chemical weapon with "the fragrance of geranium blossoms," a poison gas that was "the climax of this country's achievements in the lethal arts." The name of this substance was lewisite and this is its story -- the story of an American weapon of mass destruction. Discovered by accident by a graduate student and priest in a chemistry laboratory at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., lewisite was developed into a weapon by Winford Lewis, who became its namesake, working with a team led by James Conant, later president of Harvard and head of government oversight for the U.S.'s atomic bomb program, the Manhattan Project. After a powerful German counterattack in the spring of 1918, the government began frantic production of lewisite in hopes of delivering 3,000 tons of the stuff to be ready for use in Europe the following year. The end of war came just as the first shipment was being prepared. It was dumped into the sea, but not forgotten. Joel A. Vilensky tells the intriguing story of the discovery and development of lewisite and its curious history. During World War II, the United States produced more than 20,000 tons of lewisite, testing it on soldiers and secretly dropping it from airplanes. In the end, the substance was abandoned as a weapon because it was too unstable under most combat conditions. But a weapon once discovered never disappears. It was used by Japan in Manchuria and by Iraq in its war with Iran. The Soviet Union was once a major manufacturer. Strangely enough, although it was developed for lethal purposes, lewisite led to an effective treatment for a rare neurological disease.

Does the identification number 60 indicate a toxic substance or a flammable solid, in the molten state at an elevated temperature? Does the identification number 1035 indicate ethane or butane? What is the difference between natural gas transmission pipelines and natural gas distribution pipelines? If you came upon an overturned truck on the highway that was leaking, would you be able to identify if it was hazardous and know what steps to take? Questions like these and more are answered in the Emergency Response Guidebook. Learn how to identify symbols for and vehicles carrying toxic, flammable, explosive, radioactive, or otherwise harmful substances and how to respond once an incident involving those substances has been identified. Always be prepared in situations that are unfamiliar and dangerous and know how to rectify them. Keeping this guide around at all times will ensure that, if you were to come upon a transportation situation involving hazardous substances or dangerous goods, you will be able to help keep others and yourself out of danger. With color-coded pages for quick and easy reference, this is the official manual used by first responders in the United States and Canada for transportation incidents involving dangerous goods or hazardous materials.