Japan's China Weapons Cleanup Hits a Snag Mar 31, 2008
The Chinese government says that Japan left some 2 million chemical munitions shells, bombs and barrels of deadly agents such as mustard gas, phosgene, hydrogen cyanide and lewisite. The Japanese Cabinet Office, which handles issues related to the weapons, declined to estimate the number, but Japanese officials have previously said there were at least 700,000. (Time.com)
Experts To Inspect WWI Chemical Agent Site Nov 14, 2007
Federal, state and local public health and environment officials approved plans Tuesday to investigate the source of the lewisite, a chemical weapon found Oct. 31 by Army contractors ... Lewisite, like mustard gas, is a blistering agent ... Officials said the workers wore protective clothing, were decontaminated and showed no symptoms of coming into contact with the lewisite. (CBS 4, CO)
Lewisite Clean-Up Plan At Wildlife Refuge Reviewed Nov 10, 2007
The refuge closed to the public 9 days ago after a work crew detected lewisite in an area that was not open to the public. Lewisite is a chemical warfare agent ... Lewisite is a blistering agent manufactured in large quantities at the arsenal during World War II. The best case scenario is what was detected is coming from contaminated soil due to an old spill. (CBS 4, CO)
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE NEWS BUDGET Nov 4, 2007
CHEMICALWEAPON (Ensslin, SHNS) -- DENVER: The discovery of traces of lewisite, a blistering chemical weapon that dates to World War I, has led to an indefinite closure of 12,000 acres of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge northeast of Denver. 350. (Scripps Howard News Wire)
World War I Chemical Agent Found At Rocky Arsenal Nov 2, 2007
(AP) DENVER Crews digging a trench as part of the ongoing cleanup of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal discovered the presence of lewisite, a chemical warfare agent developed for use in World War I and produced at the site in 1943 ... State health officials said none of the lewisite was detected in the air outside of the 5 acre work site. (CBS 4, CO)
What Does a Bioterror Attack Smell Like? U.S. Calendar Offers Helpful Tips Jun 16, 2007
One helpful chart points out that phosgene, a poisonous industrial gas, has the smell of freshly mowed hay, while lewisite, a chemical-warfare agent that blisters the skin, disperses in a geranium-scented cloud. Biological-Attack Signs. (Bloomberg)
UH, Army to scour for bombs in ocean May 26, 2007
The largest amount of chemical weapons is believed to have been dumped in an area 10 miles west of the Waianae Coast, where nearly 2,000 tons of lewisite, mustard, hydrogen cyanide and cyanogen chloride were discarded. Lewisite and mustard are blister agents, which produce irritation and damage to the skin and mucous membranes, pain and injury to the eyes and, when inhaled, damage to the respiratory tract ... Except for the lewisite, the chemicals were contained in bombs, projectiles and mortar... (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Public urged to return dangerous items found at Salt Plains May 5, 2007
Some of the vials contain diluted mustard gas and lewisite in a solution of mostly chloroform, according to the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency. Other vials contained diluted solutions of chemicals such as chloropicirin, pure phosgene or cyanogen chloride. (Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, OK)
Brown family attorney: eBay not doing enough to pull Simpson book auctions Nov 24, 2006
The bombs stored at Maradykovsky hold VX, soman, sarin, and a less deadly mixture of lewisite and mustard gas. Technicians are to open each bomb, drain out some agent if necessary, insert a neutralizing reagent, close up the bomb and let it sit for 80-110 days to let the chemical processes take place, Gennady Bezrukov, a chemical weapons destruction program official, said at the plant opening in September. (North County Times)
U.S. Senate OKs $470M for Hawaii Sep 13, 2006
The Army later said it identified at least two locations where 2,600 tons of mustard, cyanogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide and lewisite were dumped off Oahu between 1944 and 1946. One site is about 10 miles off Pearl Harbor in about 1,200 feet of water. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Government backs nuclear power plants Jul 12, 2006
" (AP)WWII gas bombs retrieved near school BEIJING -- A joint Chinese-Japanese team of experts has retrieved 210 abandoned Japanese poison gas bombs from World War II that were buried near a school in northeastern China, a news report said yesterday . A total of 689 shells and bombs were unearthed in Ning'an, a city near the Russian border, and 210 were found to contain mustard gas, lewisite, phosgene, and other toxins, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The weapons were buried at the site,... (Boston Globe -- World)
The Hunt for Reef Ordnance May 25, 2006
The Army has said that, with exception of the blister agent Lewisite, the chemicals would have broken down into nontoxic compounds had their containers been broken. Lewisite, if released into the ocean, could elevate the levels of arsenic in both the water and the ocean bottom, according to Army officials ... 2-inch mustard mortar shells, 1,817 tons of one-ton mustard containers and 300 tons of one-ton Lewisite containers. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Toxic gas leak victims request insurance from Japan May 24, 2006
Liu Hao, 10, who suffered burns to his legs and hands from a mixture of mustard and lewisite gases from an old shell he was playing with in Dunhua of Jilin Province on July 23, 2004, said he is in a very bad physical condition and is suffering from aspiratory infection. The group of victims, who planned to conclude their journey on Sunday, has met with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Acting Secretary-General Ichiro Aisawa and relevant officials of the Cabinet Ministry. (Xinhuanet, China -- China)
Army: Newport will be sole site to meet deadline May 11, 2006
The nation's seven remaining chemical weapons depots contain a variety of Cold War-era chemical and nerve agents, including VX, sarin, mustard and lewisite, some of it in munitions. Mahall said several factors have pushed back efforts to destroy those agents beyond the April 2012 deadline. (Newsday -- State)
Isle lawmakers seeking survey of weapons sites Feb 18, 2006
Past reports indicate that the chemical weapons dumped during the war are blistering agents mustard gas and lewisite (which contains arsenic), in addition to hydrogen cyanide and chloride, which are described as blood agents that affect body functions by interfering with oxygen use. Chemical weapons experts have said these agents deteriorate over time into less hazardous substances. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
WWII Bombs Threaten Modern Pipeline Jan 17, 2006
Even after more than half a century on the seabed the shells' contentsmostly mustard gas and lewisite (both blister agents), as well as the nerve gas tabunmay still be deadly. Mustard gas can damage DNA, causes cancer and survives for at least five years on the ocean floor before dissolving. (Newsweek)
