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AOC 36 - Mustard Gas Investigation Report

Section 1.0 - Introduction

1.0 - Introduction

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is currently performing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for non-stockpile chemical munitions including mustard gas shells which were buried in the United States (U.S.). Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) program, a notice of intent was filed in the Federal Register on October 18, 1996 (Volume 61, Number 203) describing the intended program for destruction of chemical warfare materiel (CWM). This notice also requires DoD installations to review stored material for possible chemical warfare agents.

Camp Stanley Storage Activity (CSSA), a U.S. Army storage facility located on approximately 4,000 acres in Boerne, Texas, has taken a systematic approach to comply with this notice of intent. First, CSSA reviewed its storage records, dating from the initial base records in 1917 upon creation of the Leon Springs Military Installation, through the present to determine if mustard gas was ever stored at CSSA. In addition to the records search, former employees were interviewed regarding their recollections of storage of chemical warfare agents on post. 

The review of records indicate that up to six 155-millimeter (mm) shells containing mustard gas may have been buried and detonated in 1942 in one location at the post. This location was identified as what is currently known as area of concern (AOC) 36. One of CSSA’s solid waste management units (SWMUs), B-28, overlaps AOC 36.

Records showed that, in 1958 at the request of CSSA, the shell fragments were excavated and destroyed by U.S. Army Chemical Corps Technical Escort Detachment personnel and the burial site was determined to be free of contamination. Following the records search, a physical investigation was conducted in the suspected area to determine if mustard gas shells remained at the site. Several investigation methods were employed to accomplish this goal. In 1997, magnetometer surveys were conducted to identify any buried metal which would have been associated with the mustard gas shells. Where the possibility for buried metal was identified, excavations were conducted to identify the anomaly. Once the area was found to be free of chemical warfare agents, the excavated soils were sifted to remove any metallic material or other debris associated with the B-28 SWMU.

Since the B-28 site is known to have been a unit for managing scrap metal waste in the past, some environmental investigations had been conducted in the area in 1995 before the area was suspected of possibly containing mustard gas shells. These investigations included a soil gas survey, a geophysical survey, and drilling and sampling of soil borings.

In summary, investigations into the potential for chemical warfare agents at CSSA have included the following actions:

This report documents the methodology used to complete each of these activities, as well as the results. 

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