Rocky Mountain Contaminated Rain: A Look into the Creation of the Rocky Mountain Arse Rocky Mountain Arsenal The United States Army has created many chemical weapons facilities during its tenure as a military organization. Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA) in Colorado was such a facility, and its existence had a major negative impact of the environment of the surrounding area. Many Americans are generally unaware of the facility’s original purpose, and specifically unaware of the historical information concerning its creation and eventual dismantling, information which is fascinating, as well as highly informative. By learning how the chemicals created and stored at this facility were disposed of, it is possible to prevent re-occurrences of the type of environmental damage which resulted in this instance. During World War II, military battles were becoming increasingly heated and intense, like the Battle of Britain, and the United States Army was seeking new and more productive methods to increase its stockpile of chemical weapons. In the 1940’s, creating and storing chemical weapons was fast becoming a military priority, especially by the time the conflicts occurring in Europe during WWII intensified, One of the solutions to this problem was to find more facilities to mass produce chemical warfare agents. After the military gained Congressional approval, the Chemical Warfare Service took occupation of more than 25 square miles north of Denver, Colorado and this facility became known as the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. The Army quickly built multiple facilities here where they could mass produce chemical warfare agents and incendiary munitions. With the rise of a new enemy in Korea the military began to produce Sarin, or GB, a c... ... middle of paper ... ...rsenal/about.html Daly, J. (2011, November 8). U.S. Government Confirms Link Between Earthquakes and Hydraulic Fracturing. Retrieved May 19, 2014, from http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/U.S.-Government-Confirms-Link-Between-Earthquakes-And-Hydraulic-Fracturing.html Greene, M. (1994). THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARSENAL: STATES' RIGHTS AND THE CLEANUP OF HAZARDOUSWASTE. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs/94-58.htm Mauroni, A. J. (2000). The Chemical Corps Enters the Cold War. In America's Struggle with Chemical-Biological Warfare (1st ed., p. 18). Westport: Praeger Publishers. Rocky Mountain Arsenal. (2012, September). Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www2.epa.gov/region8/rocky-mountain-arsenal SARA Overview. (2011, December 12). Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/sara.htm
3Brophy, L. (1959). The Chemical Warfare Service (1st ed.). Washington: Office of the Chief of
On March 25, 1947, the Centralia no. 5 mine in Illinois exploded, claiming 111 lives (Martin, 31, 42). The apparent cause was determined to be inadequate mine maintenance by the operator—coal dust had built up on the floor and walls of the mine, creating conditions conducive to a chain reaction of explosions that would kill most of the workers inside of the mine. However, this was not the root cause of the disaster; it was the outcome of a systemic failure within the state government of Illinois. Despite the continuous warnings of a state mining inspector and a chain of notice letters sent from the Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals notifying the mine operator—the Centralia Coal Company—of the dangerous conditions in its mine, the disaster was not averted. The disaster occurred because both the mine operator and the Department itself dismissed the inspector’s warnings. The real, indispensable culprit of the disaster at Centralia no. 5 was political interference within the Department and the failure to conduct independent oversight over it. These failures are near universally applicable to national security organizations and their less...
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
B”Heller, C.E (1984). Leavenworth papers No 10. Chemical warfare in world war I. Combat studies institute”.
This Paper will describe and analyze three articles pertaining to the ongoing debate for and against Glen Canyon Dam. Two of these articles were found in the 1999 edition of A Sense of Place, and the third was downloaded off a site on the Internet (http://www.glencanyon.net/club.htm). These articles wi...
Kelly Air Force Base (KAFB) in San Antonio has been one of the Air Force's major aircraft maintenance facilities since the 1950s. Located on 4000 acres and surrounded by residential neighborhoods, KAFB warehouses and maintains aircraft, jet engines, and nuclear materials for worldwide distribution. Activities at the base can generate as much as 282,000 tons of hazardous waste per year, all in close range to the neighboring communities. One day, a woman living near the base noticed a man dumping waste into an open pit in...
"Chemical Warfare Agents - Resources on the health effects from chemical weapons, emergency response & treatment, counterterrorism, and emergency preparedness.au.af." Specialized Information Services - Reliable information on toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and minority health. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010.
In today's global economy, energy is one of the most crucial and sought after commodities. Who supplies it and how much they supply determines how much influence they have over other countries as well as the global economy. This is why hydraulic fracturing is currently such an important and controversial topic in the United States. Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking" or hydrofracturing, is the process of using pressurized liquids to fracture rocks and release hydrocarbons such as shale gas, which burns more efficiently than coal. This booming process of energy production provides a much needed economic boost, creating jobs and providing gas energy for Americans. The efficiently burning shale gas reduces carbon emission from electricity production plants, reducing carbon footprints on the environment. However, the process of hydraulic fracturing uses millions of gallons of pressurized liquid, which contains toxic chemicals, and some of this water is left over undealt with. The air near fracking sites is often also polluted and unsafe for nearby community residents. Injecting millions of gallons of water laced with toxic chemicals into the rock thousands of feet deep can cause earthquakes, causing a safety hazards for all nearby areas. Hydraulic Fracturing makes rare natural gases easily attainable, boosting the economy and reducing carbon emissions. However, the negative side effects such as contaminated water and air, make hydraulic fracturing a process that may not be worth the benefits.
There are concerns that fracking could be the causation of earthquakes. In areas where fracking operations occur and earthquakes are not the norm, there has been instances of seismic activity. For example, before 2011, the last seismic activity experienced by small town in Ohio named Youngstown was in 1776, but in a span of months during 2011, more than 100 instances of seismic activity ranging from 2.7 to 3.9 on the Ric...
Fries, A. A., & West, C. J. (1921). Chemical warfare,. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill book company, inc..
Poison gas was perhaps the most feared weapon out of all. Created to overcome the long stalemate style of trench warfare, its purpose was to draw out soldiers hiding in the trenches. One side would throw the poison gas into the enemy trenches and they would either wait for their enemy to come out into open fire or perish in the trenches. The first poison gas used in battle was chlorine at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915 by the Germans. Shortly after, followed the phosgene. The effects of these gases were ghastly. Chlorine was the most deadly as "within seconds of inhaling its vapor, it destroys the victim's respiratory organs, bringing on choking attacks" (Duffy). Phosgene had similar effects, except the fact that the effects started kicking in after 48 hours of inhalation. In September 1917, the Germans introduced the mustard gas or Yperite which was contained in artillery shells against the Russians at Riga. Those exposed t...
The United States Army Chemical Corps is often times looked upon as an irrelevant asset to the Army as a whole. Although there may be times that this thought process may seem justified because there may be no current threat, there are some aspects of the military that use Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) forces as a mission accomplishment necessity. The Special Operations Forces currently use two well-trained CBRN elements that are assigned to each Special Forces Group (SFG): The Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment (CRD) and the Chemical Decontamination Detachment (CDD) (Redesign Concept, pg4, para 1-3).
... Aviation History, 23(6), 50-65. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2e489df0-5604-49cf-8709-9359f8a1feee%40sessionmgr4003&vid=3&hid=4211 Pita, R. (2009). Toxin weapons: From World War I to jihadi terrorism. Toxin Reviews, 28(4), 219-237.
In comparison to nuclear weapons, chemical weapons are less damaging, but are easier to acquire. Both threats could be delivered in a containe...
...cy on biological warfare. During his visit to Fort Detrick, he announced that the United States would terminate all research on biological weapons. By the year 1972 the United States had completely destroyed all biological weapon stockpile. In return of this act the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention was held, As a result of 118 countries signed a agreeing not to develop, produce, or stockpile any form of biological weapon(Mayer p4). Unfortunately despite many laws passed over time, few countries have abided by them. Evidence of this came in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s there were reports that the Soviet Union was using biological weapons in Laos, Kampuchea, and Afghanistan (Mayer p 4).