Pine Bluff Arsenal

The Pine Bluff Arsenal is a United States Army installation in Jefferson County, Arkansas, about eight miles (13 km) northwest of Pine Bluff and thirty miles (48 km) southeast of Little Rock. It is one of nine Army installations in the United States that stored chemical weapons. The arsenal supplies specialized production, storage, maintenance and distribution of readiness products, and delivers technical services to the Armed Forces and Homeland Security. It also designs, manufactures and refurbishes smoke, riot control, and incendiary munitions, as well as chemical/biological defense operations items. It serves as a technology center for illuminating and infrared munitions and is also the only place in the Northern Hemisphere where white phosphorus munitions are filled. Its Homeland Security mission includes first-responder equipment training and surveillance of pre-positioned equipment.

History

World War II The Pine Bluff Arsenal was established on November 2, 1941, for the manufacture of incendiary grenades and bombs. 5,000 acres, purchased from local physician James W. John, Sr, served as the foundation for the site. It was originally named the Chemical Warfare Arsenal but was renamed four months later. The mission expanded to include production and storage of pyrotechnic, riot control, and chemical-filled munitions. At the height of World War II, the plant expanded from making magnesium and thermite incendiary munitions to a chemical warfare manufacturing facility as well, producing lethal gases and chemical compounds installed in artillery shells and specifically designed bombs.

Cold War and late 20th century In an incident after World War II, several captured German rockets containing mustard agents were accidentally launched into the surrounding countryside. Biological weapons operations were conducted at the arsenal from 1953 to 1969, but operations ceased when President Nixon banned biological weapons. Between 1954 and 1967, at least seven different biological agents were produced at the facility. All biological agents were destroyed between 1971 and 1973.

21st century

The Pine Bluff Arsenal chemical weapons stockpile consisted of declared quantities of rockets, land mines, and ton containers. These obsolete weapons were safely stored in high-security structures and carefully monitored until the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency completed their safe elimination in November 2010. The arsenal also safely stored other items classified as non-stockpile chemical materiel, which is not part of the nation's chemical weapons stockpile. The U.S. Army Chemical Material Agency completed a number of treaty-mandated chemical warfare disposal operations at the arsenal, described below. The Pine Bluff Arsenal was the sole storage facility for the incapaciting hallucinogen BZ and the M43 BZ Cluster bomb intended to deliver it. The weapon systems and agent stockpiles were destroyed by incineration between in 1988-1989. Pine Bluff Ton Container Decontamination Facility (PBTCDF): The PBTCDF began operations in September 2003, with the mission of decontaminating and recycling more than 4,300 short tons (3,900 t) containers (TCs) stored at the arsenal. The 1,600 lb (730 kg) steel containers once held hazardous materials and required decontamination for residual chemical agent hazard. Operators heated the TCs to 1,000 °F (538 °C) for 60 minutes, well in excess of the standard required by the Army to achieve chemical agent decontamination. This process significantly reduced liquid waste. Once decontaminated, TCs were loaded onto trailers for transport to a treatment, storage and disposal facility. There, they were cut in half, any remaining residue was removed, and the steel was recycled. PBTCDF successfully completed operations in July 2011; one result of this process was the recycling of more than 6,500,000 lb (3,200 short tons; 2,900 t) of steel. Pine Bluff Explosive Destruction System (PBEDS): PBEDS began operations in June 2006 to destroy more than 1,200 recovered chemical warfare munitions at the arsenal, the largest inventory of recovered chemical warfare materiel in the nation. The system involved three Explosive Destruction System (EDS) units, each set up in a vapor containment structure. The EDS uses cutting charges to explosively access chemical munitions, eliminating their explosive capacity before the chemical agent is neutralized. The PBEDS inventory included 4.2-inch mortars as well as German Traktor rockets, which were captured during World War II. PBEDS operators destroyed the last munition in April 2010, marking the destruction of all non-stockpile materiel declared when the United States entered into the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

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