• published: 04 Dec 2013
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Albuquerque Unexploded chemical bombs -- some containing dangerous agents of mass destruction such as mustard gas and hydrogen cyanide -- from U.S. tests at San Jose Island, Panama, may be headed to New Mexico for disposal, according to the Panamanian government. But New Mexico state officials said they were not aware that the dangerous chemicals may be going there. A team of experts from the U.S. Department of Defense will evaluate "the fragility of chemical weapons in San Jose Island with the goal of moving and transporting them by sea toward the New Mexico desert, where they will be buried," according to a Nov. 21 statement posted online by Panama's Foreign Minister Fernando Núñez Fábrega. Following his Nov. 13 meeting with U.S. State Secretary John Kerry, the Panamanian official said the U.S. government had agreed to pay for the cleanup costs, and that removal of the chemical munitions will take place as soon as possible under an agreement with the U.S. government. "In this way, Panama will be free of unexploded bombs in San Jose Island, and the (island) will be able to recover its touristic value," Núñez Fábrega said. In New Mexico, the desert regions are in the southern part of the state, which also encompass White Sands Missile Range, a vast military reservation. The New Mexico governor's office referred questions about the matter to the state Environment Department and the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. "The U.S. Department of Defense would be the regulatory agency to oversee safety, security, and safeguarding the environment from the potential impacts of disposed weapons," said Jim Winchester, spokesman for the state environment office. "The Department of Defense (or any other agency) has not contacted the state of New Mexico's Environment Department in regards to this report." Neither the U.S. State Department nor the Department of Defense had responded to questions about the agreement with Panama, and that country's statement that New Mexico was discussed as the destination for the chemical weapons. A spokesman with the state department said he would look into it, but had not responded by late Friday. A state department press announcement states that Kerry and Núñez Fábrega met in the department's Treaty Room in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13. "We have also worked together closely on the issue of how to destroy some old Word War II chemical weapons munitions that are on San Jose Island, and we're working on that issue as well as cooperating on counter-narcotics initiatives," Kerry said in a video and statement that the state department posted online, but without elaborating on the possible disposal site. The organization is the same one that oversees the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria. Mustard gas and distilled mustard, phosgene, cyanogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, butane, and possibly also Lewisite were among the chemicals that the U.S. military tested at San Jose Island. "From available documents," IFOR reported, "the number of munitions tested are known for 18 of the 130 tests conducted on San Jose Island. Some 4,397 chemical munitions were fired in these 18 tests, for an average of 244 munitions fired in each test. Dangerous chemical weapons abandoned in Panama by the U.S. in the 1940s won't be headed for New Mexico, a Defense Department spokesperson told News 13 on Tuesday. Panama's foreign minister ignited a little firestorm when he recently said the U.S. is finally going to take those deadly World War II leftovers and dump them in the New Mexico desert. Now the Pentagon has something to say about that. A spokesperson for the Defense Department now confirms the U.S. is sending a team of experts to evaluate the chemical weapons, but tells News 13, "Relocation of the munitions from Panama to the Unites States is not an option being considered by the United States government." No one seems to know why Panama's foreign minister mentioned New Mexico in the first place. Offices of Sen. Tom Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich say the Defense Department has assured them New Mexico was never an option. Read More http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_24627414/unexploded-chemical-weapons-could-be-headed-new-mexico https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO_vLJp3pJo FAIR USE NOTICE: This Video may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes.