News from all over - Cherokee
Army safety specialists are expected to close shop today at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma after they remove, dilute and eventually dispose of hazardous blistering chemicals discovered by chance a week earlier.
The 10 vials of chemicals unearthed by a Boy Scout looking for salt crystals April 21 officially were identified as various World War II-era gas samples used to train soldiers for their exposure in war zones.
Between 1942 and 1946, part of the Salt Plains area was used by the military for practice bombing and strafing, said refuge manager Jon Brock of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The mystery, say Corps of Engineers officials, is the area where the vials were found was not a part of the range and, even if it had been, there was no known testing or storing of biological weapons.
On Saturday, park officials continued to maintain closure of the refuge’s selenite crystal digging area to the public, even as a festival celebrating one of the most popular activities at Salt Plains continued at another area of the refuge. The annual Crystal and Birding Festival had to be rearranged at the last minute to avoid use of the crystal flats.
Brock said the digging area will remain closed until the Corps of Engineers conducts a thorough evaluation of the entire salt flats, which encompass about 10,000 acres. About 300 acres is utilized each season from April 1 to Oct. 15 for the public to dig for crystals. Digging attracts up to 30,000 visitors annually that includes many Boy Scouts and school groups.
"I don’t feel like I can allow kids to go out there and dig," Brock said.
During the time of distribution, vials packed in metal shipping containers or wooden boxes were removed, set on poles and detonated as part of a soldier’s training to help him identify, handle and decontaminate chemical agents, Moon said.
They were disposed of by simple burial ... the protocol of the day.
Source
The 10 vials of chemicals unearthed by a Boy Scout looking for salt crystals April 21 officially were identified as various World War II-era gas samples used to train soldiers for their exposure in war zones.
Between 1942 and 1946, part of the Salt Plains area was used by the military for practice bombing and strafing, said refuge manager Jon Brock of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The mystery, say Corps of Engineers officials, is the area where the vials were found was not a part of the range and, even if it had been, there was no known testing or storing of biological weapons.
On Saturday, park officials continued to maintain closure of the refuge’s selenite crystal digging area to the public, even as a festival celebrating one of the most popular activities at Salt Plains continued at another area of the refuge. The annual Crystal and Birding Festival had to be rearranged at the last minute to avoid use of the crystal flats.
Brock said the digging area will remain closed until the Corps of Engineers conducts a thorough evaluation of the entire salt flats, which encompass about 10,000 acres. About 300 acres is utilized each season from April 1 to Oct. 15 for the public to dig for crystals. Digging attracts up to 30,000 visitors annually that includes many Boy Scouts and school groups.
"I don’t feel like I can allow kids to go out there and dig," Brock said.
During the time of distribution, vials packed in metal shipping containers or wooden boxes were removed, set on poles and detonated as part of a soldier’s training to help him identify, handle and decontaminate chemical agents, Moon said.
They were disposed of by simple burial ... the protocol of the day.
Source
