Local News
Army: Agent monitoring system was inoperative
Chemical weapons stockpiled at the Blue Grass Army Depot went two years without being monitored, according to a report released Monday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
The U.S. Army’s inspector general’s agency investigated several claims made by Donald VanWinkle, a former depot whistle blower, who claimed he was retaliated against when he voiced concerns about how the weapon storage igloos were being monitored.
The report covered September 2003 through August 2005 and was obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request by PEER.
Blue Grass Chemical Activity (BGCA) spokesman Dick Sloan said Monday he had not seen the report and had no immediate comment. However, the BGCA will be issuing a statement later today, Sloan said.
“We have received a copy of the inspector general’s report and will go over it carefully to see if there’s anything additional we can do to provide enhanced safety for the community and its citizens,” Sloan said.
The BGCA is the entity in charge of the safe storage, monitoring and demolition of chemical weapons being stored at the depot.
Some chemical weapons in storage are filled with GB agent and others are filled with VX agent. Both are deadly, but VX agent cannot be seen, whereas GB turns into a gas and spreads throughout the atmosphere.
Because VX is invisible “ ... Blue Grass (Army Depot) had no means ... to determine whether the odorless, colorless nerve gas was seeping from the rockets in which the agent is stored,” according to a statement released Monday by PEER spokesperson Kirsten Stade.
“The concern that the miniature chemical agent monitoring system sampling configuration at (the depot) for VX was incorrect is founded for the period of September 2003 through August 2005,” the inspector general report states.
If the nerve agent leaked into the atmosphere during this time, there still would be no great environmental impact, according to Craig Williams, director of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group.
The group serves as a watchdog to make sure the chemical weapons are stored and destroyed in a way that is environmentally friendly.
“Because of the type of agent involved in this issue, I think that any environmental concerns are almost zero because VX is not volitive and does not move through the environment like GB does,” Williams said. “In this case, I think they weren’t using the equipment right, but I don’t think it had any negative effect.”
The inspector general’s office could not find evidence to support several other claims made by VanWinkle that included: igloo air-monitoring reports were incorrect, depot workers were subjected to the lethal nerve agent, maintenance of air monitoring equipment used at the depot was deficient and the nerve agent conversion pads had not been changed out as required, resulting in erroneous readings.
The Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection (KDEP), however, confirmed many of VanWinkle’s other disclosures.
The KDEP issued citations to the BGCA in 2007 for: not testing spills from rockets containing agent that are stored inside the igloos, improper storage practices which crush the shells of rockets and cause leaks, and failing to ensure employees are properly trained to prevent release of chemical warfare agents.
Unlike the inspector general, the state agency acknowledged that there is no way of knowing whether there were leaks during the period that the monitors were inoperative, according to PEER’s report.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@ richmondregister.com or 624-6608.
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Berea men arrested for robbery
Berea police arrested two men in connection with a March 8 robbery at a check-cashing business, a spokesman said Monday.
Shawn Burns, 32, was charged with first-degree robbery and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, while Bradley Lamb, 21, was charged with complicity to first-degree robbery and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, said Capt. Ken Clark, Berea Police Department spokesman. -
City seeks proposals for Gibson Bay Cafe
The operation lease for Gibson Bay Cafe expires at the end of May, and the City of Richmond will be accepting bids for the operation of the restaurant from the public until Friday, March 26.
Gibson Bay Cafe, which is located at Lake Reba Recreational Complex on the Gibson Bay Golf Course, is owned by city commissioner Bill Strong and his wife Jeanie Strong. -
Reports of home burglaries keep Richmond police busy
The new owner of a mobile home on Bradbury Pointe reported to Richmond police Friday that appliances had been stolen from the home.
A stainless steel refrigerator, a white stove, a white microwave and a three-ton Trane heating and air conditioning unit were discovered to be missing from the home on March 7, said Chief Larry Brock. -
Parents upset about test scores, deficiencies
The frustration was evident in the voices of a number of Berea Community School parents who spent more than an hour Monday night addressing the Berea Independent Board of Education.
The parents spent most of the evening talking directly to middle school/high school principal John Masters about a lack of communication with school personnel and asking for answers about how the district intends to correct a number of deficiencies identified by the state in a December audit. -
Time to stand up, be counted
Madison County households will be receiving questionnaires in the mail today through Wednesday from the U.S. Census Bureau which is carrying out it constitutional mandate to count all U.S. citizens every 10 years.
Letters were mailed last week advising household to be watching for the census questionnaire, according to J.C. Barbour, the bureau’s media specialist for Kentucky. -
‘Sunshine Boys’ dedicated to Kerby’s memory
The late Dr. Clifford Kerby, former mayor of Berea, was a longtime supporter and often an actor in community theater.
One of his favorite plays, in which he played one of the two lead roles for the old Berea Community Theater back in 1977, was “The Sunshine Boys,” said his wife Diane. -
Two chances to meet, hear candidates
“You can’t tell the players without a program,” vendors at old minor league baseball games used to yell.
With so many local candidates in the running for election this year, voters may know too little about them to make an informed choice, some observers have remarked.
However, two Madison County organizations have scheduled events for Thursday evening to help clarify who the candidates are and what they stand for. -
Local group to meet on skate park on Tuesday
A local group seeking to build a public skateboard park in Richmond will conduct a public meeting next week in downtown Richmond.
Skate Richmond, KY is a non-profit group founded in 2007, according to group member and local attorney Wesley Browne, and is interested in constructing a public skateboard park in downtown Richmond. -
Lots of ‘energy’ at expo Saturday
Gloomy weather and college basketball did not keep people away from Saturday’s Madison County Home Energy Expo at the Perkins Building on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus.
The second-annual event, hosted by Madison County’s University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension office, moved to the EKU campus this year after last year’s event was conducted at Glenn Marshall Elementary School. -
Kentucky Blood Center collection Tuesday in Berea
Kentucky Blood Center will conduct a blood drive on Tuesday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Union Church in the Community Room, 200 Prospect St., Berea.
Every volunteer who presents to donate blood with the Kentucky Blood Center (KBC) will have a chance to win a trip to the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four games. One winner will receive a package for two that includes hotel stay April 2-6 and tickets to the Final Four (April 3) and Championship Games (April 5) in Indianapolis. The drawing will be conducted on April 1. - More Local News Headlines
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Berea men arrested for robbery
