Power Problems At Army Facility

Officials at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland are investigating power outages on two consecutive days in two separate laboratories conducting defensive chemical weapons research at the Army facility.

The power failures involved fans in ventilation systems that were supposed to draw deadly fumes away from researchers who were working with chemical agents inside safety hoods in two different buildings. None of the 18 researchers working in the labs was injured, but several could have been exposed to lethal chemical agents.

Aberdeen officials believe the timing of the outages was a coincidence. They are now investigating probable causes, including the electrical infrastructure in the buildings and the ventilation systems in the laboratories' testing chambers. Final assessments "could take a couple of weeks to complete," Aberdeen spokesman George Mercer says.

The first failure occurred on April 11 at the Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense. Fifteen researchers were working with mustard agent and the nerve agent sarin when a computer controlling the ventilation system failed. Two researchers requested hospitalization, were observed for a day, and were released.

The second failure occurred the next day at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. Three researchers were working with mustard agent, sarin, hydrogen cyanide, and cyanogen chloride when the ventilation system failed. None of the researchers "exhibited symptoms associated with exposure to the agents they were working with," says Aberdeen spokeswoman Pat McClung.

The labs are shuttered until the final assessment reports are issued, Mercer says.

Late last year, the Army destroyed the 1,600-ton stockpile of mustard agent stored in bulk on the Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground. The agent was neutralized on-site, and the wastewater, or hydrolysate, was trucked to a DuPont treatment facility in Deepwater, N.J., for secondary treatment and ultimate discharge into the Delaware River.