Oklahoma & Biohazards in the Salt Plains

By Tim Talley Associated Press Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Federal officials warned tourists Thursday to beware of dangerous chemicals or explosives they may have taken home as souvenirs from a popular crystal-hunting area.

Authorities have found 130 glass vials of toxic agents, which were once used in chemical warfare training, at the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge. They also discovered incendiary devices that may have been intended to destroy these chemicals, U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Victoria Fox said.

The so-called chemical agent identification sets were not designed to be lethal, but could be “extremely dangerous,” Fox said.

“They have a potential to create an extreme irritation to your skin, your face, your eyes,” she said.

The agency urged anybody who may have collected the vials or explosives to call police.

“Having these items places you, your family and your neighbors at risk,” the agency said in a statement.

The military was dispatched to the refuge in northern Oklahoma last week after a Boy Scout who was digging for crystals accidentally broke one of the buried vials, exposing him to a yellowish liquid inside.

The boy started coughing and the material made his eyes burn and his nose run, but he has suffered no lingering ill effects, officials said.

There have been no other reports of the public coming in contact with the chemicals.

Some of the vials contain diluted mustard gas and lewisite in a solution of mostly chloroform, according to the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency. Other vials contained diluted solutions of chemicals such as chloropicirin, pure phosgene or cyanogen chloride.

Fox said officials do not know where the material came from or how long it has been in the ground. Between 1942 and 1946, the area was used as a practice bombing range by U.S. aviators, the former Great Salt Plains Bombing Range near Cherokee in Alfalfa County, about 130 miles northwest of Oklahoma City.

Fox said the crystal digging area has been closed since the first vial was discovered and that officials will ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assess the safety of the site after the materials are removed.

“We are asking for a complete reassessment of the area. Public safety is our number one concern,” Fox said.

The wildlife refuge, established in 1930, is home to thousands of ducks, geese and birds. It is also prized for its selenite, a crystallized form of gypsum that takes on a variety of shapes as it forms just below the salt-encrusted surface of the refuge.