The Pine Bluff Arsenal is in the preliminary stages of a six-month investigational study of remote areas of the site intended to address potential safety, health and environmental issues.
Rachel Newton, public affairs officer with the Arsenal, said Friday that the study is part of an ongoing effort by the Department of Defense to address these issues at its many bases and installations.
“This is just a very early assessment study,” Newton said. “We will send out updates as the study progresses.”
The areas that will be part of the study include sections that were used during the 1940s and may contain discarded munitions and other warfare materials, according to an Arsenal news release.
The investigation is a partnership between the Arsenal, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Newton said that the study is completely separate from the ongoing demolition and decontamination of the Chemical Weapons Disposal Facility that completed the destruction of the chemical weapons stockpile at the Arsenal in November 2010.
“There is no connection between the two,” Newton said.