HONOLULU — The Army is planning to destroy 10 old chemical weapon warheads in Hawaii later this month.
HONOLULU — The Army is planning to destroy 10 old chemical weapon warheads in Hawaii later this month.
The destruction of the shells is set to occur over a two-week period at the Schofield Barracks firing range on Oahu, beginning April 27, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper reported.
Army officials said waste left by the operation will be sent to the mainland.
The decades-old warheads were found between 2009 and 2012. They are the last such weaponry discovered during clearance work for a Stryker vehicle battle training area.
The weapons are believed to be from World War I and World War II eras.
Their upcoming destruction comes after a $7 million effort in 2008 to neutralize chemical rounds in what was then the largest concentration of unexploded chemical weapons found in the nation. At the time, Army officials said they couldn’t explain the large number of chemical weapons at the Oahu firing range.
U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii commander Col. Richard Fromm said the Army no longer uses the types of munitions set to be destroyed in the $2.5 million effort.
The Army opened up a temporary site near the firing range on Thursday for a media tour.
Officials said extensive measures are being taken to handle and destroy the weapon safely, including a ventilation system in a Quonset tent.