A field test has demonstrated the effectiveness of a government plan to clean up sarin or other chemical warfare agents in locations with limited access to water, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
A federal government report said the system is field-deployable, meaning it can be dispatched for the "onsite neutralization of bulk stores of chemical warfare agents."
The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad was accused earlier this month of launching a gas attack that killed about 100 people, including children, prompting a U.S. retaliatory airstrike.
The chemical cleanup plan was created under the U.S. Agnostic Compact Demilitarization of Chemical Agents project.
It's newest accomplishment is the "novel waterless soil-scrubbing technology that safety neutralized toxic chemicals simulating sarin, soman and mustard agents."
It was shown to be able to remove "greater than 99.9999 percent" of the simulants, "without creating any hazardous waste byproducts."
The plan started with the existing Tactical Plasma Arc Chemical Warfare Agents Destruction System, called PACWADS, a thermal treatment system.
It uses a high-temperature plasma torch that converts toxic chemicals into "relatively benign components."
It then uses a water-based capture system to get the "last traces."
For the new project, the system of burning contaminants was modified to remove the water scrubber from the series of treatments and instead used a soil-based scrubber from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The scrubber "captured and converted the toxic CWA decomposition products and resulting acid gases into non-hazardous salts."
Using soil from the site itself, which can be returned to the site without hazardous elements, the plan "eliminates the logistical burden of supply water."
"We were very impressed with fast work by DARPA-supported researchers to develop the soil-based scrubber to test with the PACWADS," said Tyler McQuade, program manager.
For the rest of this report, and more, please go to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
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