Camp Sibert Site 8

Mitigating Nonstockpile Chemical Warfare Material

Although World War II ended more than six decades ago, the threat of nonstockpile chemical warfare material (CWM) remains. CWM is a safety hazard that may constitute an imminent and substantial danger to the public, project personnel, and the environment. CWM is suspected to remain at various formerly used defense sites (FUDS) throughout the United States and its territories. One of these FUDS is the former Camp Sibert in Gadsden, Alabama.

Camp Sibert was the first large-scale chemical agent training area in the United States and operated from 1942 to 1945. Infantry units and individual Soldiers were disciplined in aspects of both basic military training and in the use of chemical weapons, decontamination procedures, and smoke operations. Mustard gas and other chemical warfare agents were used in the training. Camp Sibert provided the opportunity for live-agent, large-scale training that had been previously unavailable. In addition to chemical training, several types and calibers of conventional weapons were fired at the former Camp Sibert. The 4.2-inch mortar was the weapon most often used in training.

In 1997, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) selected Parsons to begin phased engineering evaluation/cost analysis (EE/CA) investigations for CWM and munitions and explosives of concern (MEC) at various sites within the former 37,000-acre training area. The property is now a combination of open rural areas, homes, and businesses.

Parsons’ EE/CA investigation involved reviewing available records and historical aerial photography to identify training locations, firing ranges, and possible burial areas within the former Camp Sibert boundaries. This research helped our team to focus the investigation and sampling strategy on targeted areas, as well as to develop a strategy that addressed health and safety and other concerns associated with investigation for suspected CWM and MEC.

As a result of these investigations, an unexploded 4.2-inch chemical mortar containing phosgene was encountered at Site 8, a 375-acre former toxic munitions impact area. The discovery confirmed Parsons’ concern regarding this part of the former Camp Sibert: we implemented additional geophysical surveys over 128 acres of the site and subsequently identified more than 10,000 suspect metallic anomalies.

Parsons was awarded a CWM removal action (RA) at Site 8 through a competitive solicitation, which began with extensive planning and preparation in June 2004. The RA’s objective was to eliminate and dispose of all CWM, ordnance-related scrap, and explosive hazards at Site 8. Present land use includes cattle grazing, recreational hunting, and two rural homesteads—all directly adjacent to recent industrial and business enterprises.  

To prepare for the RA, Parsons assisted in adapting and applying air dispersion modeling software typically used in safety monitoring at stockpile CWM facilities. Implementation of this software is saving USACE hundreds of thousands of dollars by accurately predicting exclusion zones (i.e., zones that nonessential personnel are kept out of to protect other site workers and the public) and minimizing use of engineering controls and unnecessary evacuations. Parsons also designed and fabricated a 30- by 40-ft transportable frame for an existing engineering control structure used to reduce the extent of the safety exclusion zones and further limit the need for more extensive public evacuations. This frame and structure device also allows for rapid movement, positioning, lifting, and lowering of the enclosure without the use of a crane, thus enhancing worker safety and productivity, as well as minimizing field setup costs.

Parsons is also working closely with other government agencies that are assisting with the RA, including the Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center, responsible for chemical agent air monitoring and sampling; the U.S. Army 22nd Chemical Battalion, responsible for assessment and packaging of any intact CWM items discovered; and the Project Manager Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel for the storage and disposal of these CWM items.

To date, approximately 5,500 anomalies have been investigated, and more than 2,000 pieces of mortar scrap (approximately 11,400 lbs) and 13 intact, liquid-filled 4.2-inch mortars have been discovered. These mortars have been packaged and are stored in an interim holding facility pending final assessment and disposition.

High-hazard work demands rigorous skills, attention to detail, and the training and experience to safely execute the response. Parsons has successfully undertaken this challenging work and continues to safely and successfully solve problems with CWM for the Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, numerous state and local governments, and a host of commercial clients.

Parsons is concurrently conducting phased investigations and RA’s at other suspect conventional and chemical sites within the former Camp Sibert. The RA at Site 8 is expected to be completed in September 2009.