Army to test vials found at wildlife refuge

By Josh Rabe

Published: April 26, 2007

JET — Officials suspect a vial of an unknown chemical that sickened a Boy Scout digging for crystals last weekend is a remnant of World War II Army operations at a wildlife refuge, but declined Wednesday to speculate what the vial contained.

The Scout accidentally broke the vial while digging for selenite crystals Saturday at the Great Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, exposing him to an unknown, yellow liquid inside.

"He instantly started coughing and his eyes started burning, and he ran away,” said John Brock, manager of the park.

Brock said he has been in contact with the boy's family and the boy doesn't seem to be suffering any long-term effects from exposure to the chemical, which won't be identified until a Maryland-based Army chemical unit arrives to test the substance Friday.

Park rangers have unearthed at least 10 similar vials in the same area.

Ross Adkins, chief of public affairs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District, said the containers are similar in size and appearance to training kits used during the World War II era, but couldn't be certain what the containers were without closer inspection or testing. Photos provided to the corps were inconclusive, he said.

From 1928 to 1969, the Army produced Chemical Agent Identification Sets, kits that contained a small amount of diluted mustard gas or other agents in sealed glass containers used to train soldiers to identify different gas attacks.

"I think it's a possibility,” Adkins said of the origin of the vials.

Hundreds of thousands of the kits were produced between 1930 and 1960 and many were lost or buried at artillery and training sites, according to a 2005 study by the corps.

The corps last fall completed a survey of the area of the salt flats used to practice bombing and strafing to remove any munitions that may not have detonated, Brock said.

The area where the vials were found wasn't used as part of the artillery range and isn't known to have been used for testing or storing biological weapons, he said. The area was searched for metal munitions only.

The crystal digging area of the park will remain closed until park officials are certain it is safe to return, Brock said.

Armed guards are preventing anyone from entering the closed park gates, Brock said.

The park's annual crystal dig and bird-watching festival will be held as planned this weekend, but the crystal dig area will remain closed, he said.

The festival, which runs Friday through Sunday, attracts hundreds of bird watchers to the refuge every year. Its shallow lake and sandy marshes are a popular resting point for a variety of migratory birds.

The salty soil also provides the right conditions for gypsum to form elaborate crystal clusters just below the ground's surface.

The area was designated as a federal wildlife refuge in 1930 and now is home to thousands of ducks and geese.

The U.S. Army Air Corps used the salt flats as a bombing and gunnery range between 1942 and 1946.

Curtis Jones, the park's assistant manager, said Army officials believe the vials were produced by the military and left during that timeframe.

Jones said it appeared the vials had been buried for a long time because the cardboard some of them were packaged in had decomposed and the glass appeared to be deteriorating.

Brock described the containers as ampoules, or glass containers, about seven inches long, sealed on both ends by melting,. A yellow liquid is sealed inside each of the unbroken containers.