Friday, January 28, 2011

DEADLY NERVE AGENT FOUND AT LOCKED DOWN BASE

A BIOLOGICAL warfare military base  which was locked down because a small amount of nerve agent was unaccounted for has now reopened after the missing vial was found.
Panicking officials, shut the Utah base, which carries out tests to protect troops against biological attacks was closed down as frantic searches were launched when the VX nerve agent went missing.
Although just a fourth of a teaspoon was missing, even a drop of the agent which affects the body's ability to carry messages through the nerves, could have had terrible consequences for someone.   
A mix of about 1200 to 1400 military and civilian personnel at the Dugway Proving Grounds, which sits about 85 miles south of Salt Lake City were held inside the base until it was found.

Spokeswoman Paula Thomas said the base, located about 85 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, had first reopened to incoming personnel, and people inside were allowed to leave shortly thereafter.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported the nearly 800,000-acre base conducts chemical and biological defense training, and "is the Defense Department's leader in testing battlefield smokes and obscurants."
Personnel there also test military equipment's viability in environments where they're facing chemical or biological threat.
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