Arsenal official: Chemical weapons gone in 1 more year

By The Associated Press

A top official at the Pine Bluff Arsenal says it could be only about a year before the Army chemical-weapons destruction operation in Arkansas finishes its task. Lt. Col. Nathaniel Farmer says he and other officials at the arsenal are working on ways to help workers find new jobs when the operation shuts down.

Farmer, commander of Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, spoke last week to the West Pine Bluff Rotary Club about the immediate future of the weapons-destruction program at the arsenal. He said that, if everything goes well, the last ton of mustard gas at the arsenal should be destroyed by sometime in November or December of next year.