Army begins mending Johnston Atoll

The island is primed for
cleanup after decades of
chemical weapons testing

By Gregg K. Kakesako
Star-Bulletin

As the Army today took a step in ending Johnston Atoll's role in the country's chemical weapons history, the bigger task of restoring the marine and wildlife sanctuary begins.

Carol Gaudette, Johnston Atoll programs manager, said the cleanup of more than a half-century of use by the military, much of it in the country's chemical weapons warfare area, will fall to three major groups: the Army, Air Force and Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Since 1971 the Army has been responsible for storing, securing and transporting chemical weapons on Johnston Island -- one of four islands that make up the remote atoll located 825 miles southwest of Honolulu.

The first shipment of chemical weapons was transported from Okinawa to Johnston in 1971 under Operation Red Hat. In November of 2000, under another Army program, all of the chemicals stored on Johnston were destroyed, ending the mission of the U.S. Army Chemical Activity.

Lt. Col. John Esce, the unit's executive officer, said there were no serious incidents over the past three decades.

Working with the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) facility, which was built in 1990, the two units destroyed more than 400,000 rockets, projectiles, bombs, mortars, containers and mines.

These weapons contained more than 2,000 tons of chemicals in the form of nerve agent (GB, also known as sarin and VX) and blister agent. The Army now will work to close the JACADS incinerator and demolish the existing bunkers that were used to store these chemical weapons.

The Army is supposed to be off the atoll by 2003 when it will be returned to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Also involved in the cleanup will be the Air Force, which has owned all of the property on Johnston since 1948, but allowed use by various federal agencies.

Gaudette said the Air Force has set aside $17 million to clean up two sites on the northern part of Johnson Island and another $26 million to demolish several of its structures.

The two main trouble areas for which the Air Force is responsible are places where the herbicide agent orange and jet fuel were stored. Those materials leaked into the ground, and the Air Force must clean up the area before vacating the island.

The Air Force's cleanup plan will be released for public comment this summer, Gaudette said.

In addition, the Air Force is trying to determine if there is still 47,000 feet of underground pipeline. If surveys reveal that the pipes are still there, they will be cleaned and left in place, while the tanks will be removed.

Gaudette said the federal body with oversight on the cleanup is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.