Artillery shells test successful

Friday, Dec. 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Derek Scammell, an Energy Department spokesman at the test site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, said the experiment on Wednesday went off as planned.

It was the first of four tests to analyze emissions that would be given off by open-air disposal of munitions and rocket motors.

"Everything was within (specifications) with real low levels of contaminants in acceptable limits," Scammell said.

The Energy Department is working jointly with the Pentagon's Joint Ordnance Commanders Group to project emissions from detonating tens of thousands of surplus munitions and burning propellants from rocket motors.

Nevada's Environmental Protection Division and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allow open-pit detonation or burning of munitions and rocket motors only under special circumstances, when long-term storage makes them unstable and a safety risk.

But with such a large surplus of munitions and rocket motors resulting from U.S. arms reduction efforts, government scientists want to make information on their potential emissions available to states where they could be destroyed.

Vern Rosse, Nevada's deputy administrator for waste programs, said he is aware that the departments of Energy and Defense are seeking revised regulations for munitions disposal, but, "We've been opposed to that because we think the materials ought to be recycled and recovered to avoid discharges to the environment."

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