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22-646: The area was used to store chemical weapons between 1942 and 2012 with weapons destruction beginning in August 1996 at the Depot which held, at that time, 45% of the total U.S. stockpile. After initial demilitarization operations concerning the Weteye bomb concluded a total of 888 of those bombs were left in storage at Rocky Mountain Arsenal. After rounds of protests from residents of Utah, the state's governor, and legal action

44-584: A massive chemical bomb with a high fill efficiency (~70%). At the same time the US Army Chemical Center worked with the EDO corporation to develop the EX 38, a 500 lb (230 kg) chemical bomb with unique design features: 1) thin seamless hydrospun aluminum body, 2) weighted nose, 3) large plastic fins, and 4) a system of internal baffles to keep the 10% minimum void captured in the tail section of

66-590: A possible terror threat. Due to the proximity of the date of the intrusion to the September 11th attacks the year before, security was even higher than normal, and it was initially reported to KSL-TV in Salt Lake City , Utah that units from the 1st Battalion, 145th Field Artillery Regiment , a part of the Utah National Guard , had the intruder surrounded. Army officials later stated that

88-466: A potential explosion hazard and because the Weteye contained a liquid nerve agent the potential for an interaction of molten aluminum and the liquid agent existed. These issues combined to make the Weteye sufficiently difficult to dispose of that it required special handling. List of U.S. chemical weapons topics The United States chemical weapons program began in 1917 during World War I with

110-616: The U.S. Department of Defense sought to relocate the weapons to the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility at the Deseret Chemical Depot . This move was opposed by many residents of Utah and the state's governor at the time Scott M. Matheson . The transfer was controversial and Matheson continued to fight it until the U.S. Senate passed a bill which included an amendment sponsored by then-U.S. Senator Gary Hart (D-CO) requiring

132-473: The Weteye was divided into three sections. The Weteye body was composed of thin aluminum alloy . It had fins which deployed after the bomb was released. The 240-kilogram Weteye held about 160 kg (350 lb) of liquid sarin nerve agent . Officially, the Weteye was known as the Mark 116, or Mk-116 bomb. While this was the official military nomenclature for the weapon, early in its production it acquired

154-420: The black-clad trespasser, sighted by four different soldiers during two different patrols, immediately ran off towards Ophir Creek , escaping capture, according to the depot Commander, Col. Peter C. Cooper. Despite the immediate setting up of roadblocks and a combined search by Army units and helicopters, no trace of the intruder was found. The search was suspended at approximately 8 PM that evening. When asked why

176-518: The bomb. The prototype Weteye design, with its shaped internal burster and folding fins, was combined with the EX38 design features to create the production model of the Weteye. The Weteye was originally developed for delivery of GB and VX nerve agents. Production was limited to filling with double-distilled GB. The VX variants were not produced. During the Gulf War ( Operation Desert Storm ) there

198-604: The creation of the U.S. Army's Gas Service Section and ended 73 years later in 1990 with the country's practical adoption of the Chemical Weapons Convention (signed 1993; entered into force, 1997). Destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons began in 1985 and is still ongoing. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense , at Aberdeen Proving Ground , Maryland , continues to operate for purely defensive research and education purposes. The U.S. chemical weapons programs have generally been run by

220-517: The depot triggered the Terrorist Alert Warning System in response to an unidentified intruder being spotted just inside the 7-foot barbed wire fencing at Cemetery Ridge, a mile north of the incinerator It was the first time that the alarm, which alerts employees to possible terror threats, had been sounded since new security measures were instituted after 9/11 . As soon as the alert was sounded, area schools were notified of

242-523: The destruction of the last of 888 Weteyes. Public relations officials for the Deseret Chemical Depot asserted at the time that during the 2001 disposal operations there were "no problems". However, Eric Croddy reported in his 2005 book Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Encyclopedia of Worldwide Policy, Technology, and History that a number of issues came up during the destruction operations. One of those issues, that of leaking munitions,

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264-534: The facility was changed-over to handle destruction of mustard gas in ton-sized containers. By March 15, 2009, 3,216 ton containers and 54,453 projectiles of mustard gas had been destroyed (51.5% of Deseret's mustard agent stockpile). The last explosively configured mustard gas munition was reported destroyed in May 2010. All tabun (GA) was destroyed by November 10, 2011. All disposal operations concluded January 21, 2012. At 9:24 AM UTC-07 , September 5, 2002, officials at

286-519: The intruder could have escaped capture, Wade Mathews of the Tooele County emergency management noted, "There's a lot of foliage out there." Ophir Creek is lined with willows , he said. Depot spokeswoman Alaine Southworth states it was impossible to know if the "intruder" actually was someone from the depot who was in the wrong area, but everyone on the depot was accounted for after the warning. Additionally, she noted that they were not sure how

308-482: The intruder gained access to the perimeter, as the fence had not been cut, and no vehicle had been found to aid the intruder in their escape. Col. Cooper emphasized that the intruder was not in the area where chemical weapons were stored, but "unsettling questions remain" about his intentions, as there was no evidence of anything being stolen or that terrorism was in fact involved. During the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), Deseret Chemical Depot

330-519: The munitions were transferred to what was then known as Tooele Army Depot South Area. The first transfer of Weteyes took place in August 1981 and the moves continued for three weeks. After these transfers the South Area became known as Deseret Chemical Depot. As of January 2007, 7,593 tons (6,888 metric tons ) of chemical weapons have been destroyed using incineration. All sarin (GB) was destroyed by March 2002 and all VX by June 2005. In 2006,

352-630: The nickname "Weteye". Weteye was derived from the fact that the weapon was filled with a liquid nerve agent, sarin, thus the "wet" portion of the name. The "eye" portion of the name was associated with it being developed by the US Navy at China Lake as part of its eye-series weapon program (bombs guided by the "Mark 1 eyeball"), a program intended to improve air-delivered munitions. Demilitarization operations at Rocky Mountain Arsenal left exactly 888 Weteye bombs intact and in storage in Colorado. In 1981

374-416: The weapons be moved out of Colorado. Matheson's concern stemmed from the fact that some of the thin-shelled Weteyes stored in Colorado were leaking nerve agent. After rounds of protests and legal action that went to the U.S. District Court the transfer went ahead. An Air Force C-141 jet carried the initial transfer of 64 Weteye bombs on August 12, 1981 to an air field at Dugway Proving Ground . The event

396-570: Was a U.S. chemical weapon designed for the U.S. Navy and meant to deliver the nerve agent sarin . The Weteye held 160 kg (350 lb) of liquid sarin and was officially known as the Mk 116 (Mark 116). Stockpiles of Weteyes were transferred to Utah in the 1980s amidst controversy and protest. The Weteye bomb was developed for the United States Navy during the early 1960s. The US Navy at China Lake, California attempted to develop

418-401: Was an issue long before the weapons arrived at Deseret and the primary reason that Gov. Matheson and many Utah residents were opposed to the weapons transfer in the first place. Other issues to surface during disposal operations were high levels of mercury contamination and the tendency of the aluminum casing to explode inside the decontamination furnace. Molten aluminum and water presents

440-657: Was consideration of repurposing the Weteye design to deliver firefighting chemicals to extinguish oil well fires set by retreating Iraqi forces. In 1963, the supercarrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) (SBC-127C) was intended to contain 100 Weteyes as part of its magazine load. In 1969 the entire arsenal of US Weteye bombs were stored at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado. Most Weteye bombs stored at Rocky Mountain Arsenal were demilitarized and destroyed in 1977; however, approximately 900 Weteye bombs were not destroyed until December 2001. The interior of

462-596: Was heavily covered by the media. The moves continued for the next three weeks and Weteyes were moved to the south area of the Tooele Army Depot , which became known as the Deseret Chemical Depot. In 1996, the Deseret Chemical Depot began destruction operations of general chemical weapons. In the spring of 2001 destruction and demilitarization of the Weteyes began and the operation ended in December 2001 with

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484-595: Was recommended for closure if it was determined that it could not be used in the future for the demilitarization of conventional weapons. In such a case, supplies contained at the depot would be transferred to nearby Tooele Army Depot. Deseret Chemical Depot officially closed July 11, 2013; however, it is unclear whether or not the hundreds of government employees and contractors employed at the time have transferred to other bases. 40°17′52″N 112°20′36″W  /  40.29778°N 112.34333°W  / 40.29778; -112.34333 Weteye bomb The Weteye bomb

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