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Show The Deseret Sampler, Fri., January 11, 1974 Bugway Proving Ground in transition ' s , . , " Vi I f, 4 t, T V.wV K High explosive munition test firing at DPC. by Mr. Victor Pratt , Special Assistant to Scientific Director Dugway Proving Cround Test Center (DTC) was established at Deseret Fort Douglas, Utah, in 1962 under a Joint Chiefs of Staff charter to test chemical and biological (CB) weapon systems. Staffed with a diverse group of skilled technical its difficult and managerial talent, DTC accomplished mission while developing a high degree of practical experience in its staff. IN 1968, BECAUSE of similarity in assigned missions, DTC was merged with Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, producing a new organization having the nations principal CB test capability. The renunciation by the President of all offensive preparations fa- and any use by the United States of biological or bacteriological agents as weapons in war, coupled with restrictions on chemical testing, led the merged organization to seek new applications for its uniquely qualified human resources. The emerging national concern for environmental quality provided this opportunity as the skills required to measure environmental quality are, in many those to identical formerly required to support cases, chemical and biological field tests. In such testing, for example, the generation, transport, diffusion, collection, and assessment of particulates and aerosols were of principal concern. Part of the environmental problem involves the identical concerns with the particulates and aerosols being generated as a byproduct of industrial and human activity instead of being intentionally released. IN 1973, DTC was disestablished as a Joint Activity. Elements of DTC assigned to Fort Douglas were relocated to Dugway Proving Ground. Dugway Proving Ground, a Class II installation under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Test and Evalu-atiCommand, has the basic mission of providing test support for chemical warfare and biological defensive research. However, an increasing percentage of its technical staff is being applied to pressing Army problems in environmental control and related technology. ai Weapon and velocity coil. In FY 73, Dugway Proving Cround personnel were involved in a range of environmental studies. Bioliase-lin- e logical scientists and ecologists began conducting ecological studies at four Army demilitarization and manufacturing sites in concert with a similar team from Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland.' These studies are identical to the ones performed for almost twenty-fiv- e years in support of the testing at Dugsvay Proving Cround and at widely scattered sites in support of the - Deseret Test Center. THE FIELD investigations are aimed at establishand dynamics of ing natural population distrilmtions the fauna and flora of a given site so that the effects of subsequent Army operations can be assessed. This same Dugway Edgewood group has provided the United States Army Materiel Command (AMC) with as-a scientific .capability , for reviewing environmental ' sessment statements for its research,'' development, and test and evaluation projects; and for training of personnel at various installations in the techniques of assessment statement preparation. The understanding and experience in ecological studies developed by these scientists over many years, have been applied to current AMC problems and have resulted in a significant improvement in quality of assessments submitted to AMC. In another area, the Dugway meteorologists are conducting field studies in Utah at the Tooele Army Depot, in support of the development and testing of a system for demilitarization and disposal of chemical material. While products of combustion will lie minimal, and well within acceptable state and federal air quality standards, the Commander mast still consider the level from other effluent sources in the geographical area to insure that the air quality standards are not exceeded. THE FIELD STUDIES involve a network of remeasstations continuously presentative meteorological uring selected parameters, and the release and sampling of fluorescent particle (FP) tracer material under selected weather regimes. The purpose is to characterize .the wind flow patterns in the valley in order to predict the trajectory, transport, diffusion, and concentration of aerosols which may lie present in the area This information will enable the Commander to evaluate and regulate his operation so that air quality standards are pre-merg- f- - y. Bak- The talents of the chemical research personnel, utilized in the past to develop specialized iustrumenta-tio- n chemical agents, are being to detect and quantify applied to pollution problems associated with the manufacturing of explosives. Waste streams from the process chemiplants, which may contain a complex mixture of cals, are lieing analyzed to identify the components so that a liasif for measurement and aliatement technology can lie formed. The work, sponsored by the Manufactinuring Technology Directorate of Picatinny Arsenal, cludes the development or selection of caitinumis monitors for measuring methyl nitrate and mononitrotoluene for a and the specification of safety instrumentation fluidized lied explosives incinerator. Biological scien9 tists, drawing on their process skills related to biological agent production, are devising techniques for of waste streams containing traces' of denitrification TNT and THE PHYSICAL ' plant of the Dugwky Proving Cround test site is proving to lie of great value in providing capability for solving new problems. The large test area (larger than the state of Rhode Island) is Isolated from human habitation. Its remote location served admirably in the past to facilitate testing of chemical and biological weapons. With the present limitations on open air testing of chemical weapons, and the moritorium on biological weapons, a search for other requirements to utilize this resource was liegun. Again, the increasing concern for environmental quality provided the answer in the testing of large quantities of conventional explopre-196- '' nitro-glvcerin- e. sives. Traditional test sites arc Incoming less isolated human activity, which places increasingly strinlimits on noise generation. Dugways remote site, gent coupled with a technical staff experienced in the handling of explosives, and equipped with modern instrumentation. led to the assignment to test explosives in quantities upwards of a thousand pounds in a single detonation. This work in support of a plant modernization program is expected to continue on an expanding basis in future years as more existing test sites liecomc inoperative. Dugway Proving Ground is investigating other areas of high Army interest where its facilities and personnel can make significant contributions. Experience thus far has shown that an imaginative staff, supported by a determined management, can make the transition to new opportunities. A successful transition will assure that the unique capabilities of Dugway Proving Ground, developed over a long period of time, are not lost to the Army and the country. 1 jack-grou- Dr. J. Clifton Spendlove holds planning session for preparation of Environmental Assessment Statements. Unit at a Denitrification is shown operating David S. Thome of Life Sciences Laboratory Division er Lab where water quality tests are being performed. from maintained. and methodologies generated at TooTechniques ele will lie applied to other sites where the disjiosal system might be employed, with their validity lieing verified by limited trials using minimal metwirologi-ca- l instrumentation and inert tracers. Victor Pratt Mr. Pratt Special Assistant to the Scientific Director at Dugway Prosing Cround, Utah, was bom in Brooklyn, New York, in 1928. He earned his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree at the Pratt Institute. He served as a Project Engineer at Fort Detrick, Maryland, for 12 years. In 1962, he was reassigned to the Deseret Test Center, Fort Douglas, Utah, as a General Engineer. When the Deseret Test Center and Dugway Proving Cround svere merged on 1 July 1968, Mr. Pratt assumed 'responsibility for the Combined Contract Program as Staff Engineer to the Director of Technology and Technical Support. He is a member of the American Ordnance Association and a Licensed Professional Engineer. ' . . - . '! - , ij-.- ,,. ' S N. ', , . . . s ( ''. - -- . , " A,- -- ' Meteorological equipment used in air quality control tests Tooele Army Depot. |