The Explosive Destruction System (EDS) provides on-site treatment of recovered chemical warfare materiel (RCWM) in a safe, environmentally sound manner. The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity Recovered Chemical Materiel Directorate (CMA RCMD) has deployed the EDS for two missions at Pine Bluff Arsenal (PBA), Arkansas. The operations site is known as Pine Bluff Explosive Destruction System, or PBEDS.
How does the EDS work?
The EDS uses cutting charges to access chemical munitions, eliminating their explosive capacity before neutralizing the chemical agent. The system’s main component, a sealed, stainless-steel vessel, contains all the blast, vapor and fragments from the process, keeping the workforce, community and environment safe.
PBEDS Mission 2006-2010
Historically, burial was an accepted disposal method for chemical warfare materiel (CWM). As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) carries out environmental remediation efforts at military installations, workers are recovering CWM from these burial sites.
June 2006 marked the beginning of the first PBEDS campaign, during which the facility destroyed approximately 1,200 recovered chemical munitions, the largest inventory to date. The inventory included German Traktor rockets, captured during World War II and sent to PBA for analysis, and 4.2-inch mortars.
The completion of the mission in April 2010 was a milestone, marking the elimination of all non-stockpile materiel declared upon the United States’ entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty mandating the destruction of CWM.
PBEDS Mission 2018 – Present
In December 2018, RCMD returned to PBEDS to destroy chemical warfare materiel recovered during ongoing USACE environmental remediation efforts at PBA. During this campaign, operators destroyed five mustard agent-filled German Traktor rockets, a 4.2-inch mortar containing mustard agent and 7,101 Chemical Agent Identification Set (CAIS) K-941 bottles containing a small amount of undiluted mustard agent. These bottles were once used to train Soldiers in the safe identification, handling and destruction of chemical agents.
USACE continues to recover chemical munitions and K-941 bottles at PBA. RCMD will resume destruction operations at PBEDS periodically during these ongoing environmental remediation efforts.