The Nation - News from June 30, 1989

The non-toxic waste produced when chemical weapons stored on a Pacific island are destroyed should be buried in U.S. landfills, the Army said. The Army had hoped to dump some of the waste from Johnston Atoll into the ocean but said in a statement that it decided against asking Congress for an exception to a law that bans such disposal. Landfills that might be used in the project weren’t named in an environmental impact study that is the first part of a long-term program to destroy thousands of rounds of aging chemical weapons stored at various Army depots. Sites won’t be known until the project is approved and bids solicited from private companies, an Army spokesman said.