Washington, D.C. – The Army has won an environmental lawsuit over its plan to incinerate chemical weapons at storage sites around the country.
A federal judge threw out the suit aimed at stopping the plan to destroy the stockpiles dating back as far as World War II, required under an international treaty. The Army conducted several environmental impact studies and concluded that incineration was the most safe and effective method of destruction.
A watchdog organization called the Chemical Weapons Working Group argued that incineration emits toxic pollution and there are new alternative technologies for destruction. But the judge ruled Wednesday the group did not prove its 6-year-old case. The four storage sites at issue are in Pine Bluff, Ark., Tooele, Utah, Umatilla, Ore., and Anniston, Ala.
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