By the time the war ended, the race to build up chemical weapons arsenals had left its mark. Among the hundreds of millions of shells released during combat, between 10 and 15 percent did not explode.
In the 1920s, France began to detonate or burn the shells with few precautions. Until 1994, French authorities used a procedure that consisted of placing a mixture of conventional shells and chemical weapons shells in holes dug in the Baie de Somme, a bay in northwestern France, during low tide, and then blowing them up. The practice has since been halted, following complaints from environmentalists and a new regulation designating the bay as a protected zone.
Since then, all remains of chemical weapons have been stashed away in a protected site on the Suippes military base in the western Marne area. Approximately 230 tonnes of ammunition that can been traced to World War I have been found.
Val says Farmers and walkers in the North of France still turn up bottles and shells with agricultural machinery and walkers also still find these very dangerous weapons.
France has just now begun construction of a high-tech facility, located in the Mailly-le-Camp military zone in northeastern France, that will be devoted to dismantling chemical weapons left over from the war. The facility, called Secoia, is set to open in 2016.
Most of the info from France 24
comments to taglines82@gmail.com
