Pine Bluff Arsenal The Pine Bluff Arsenal ( PBA ) is a US Army installation located in Jefferson County , Arkansas , just northwest of the city of Pine Bluff . PBA is one of nine Army installations in the United States that stored chemical weapons . PBA supplies specialized production , storage , maintenance and distribution of readiness products , and delivers technical services to the Armed Forces and Homeland Security . PBA also designs , manufactures and refurbishes smoke , riot control , and incendiary munitions , as well as chemical / biological defense operations items . It serves as a technology center for illuminating and infrared munitions and is also the only place in the Northern Hemisphere where white phosphorus munitions are filled . Its Homeland Security mission includes first - responder equipment training and surveillance of prepositioned equipment . Capabilities . Capabilities of the center include : chemical defense and test equipment ; individual and collective chemical protection and decontamination systems ; chemical materiel surveillance program ; machining , fabrication and assembly ; specialty ammunition production ; less than lethal ammunition production ; and quality assurance and joint logistics services . History . PBA was established in November 1941 for the manufacture of incendiary grenades and bombs . It was originally named the Chemical Warfare Arsenal but was renamed four months later . The mission expanded to include production and storage of pyrotechnic , riot control , and chemical - filled munitions . At the height of World War II , the plant expanded from making magnesium and thermite incendiary munitions to a chemical warfare manufacturing facility as well , producing lethal gases and chemical compounds installed in artillery shells and specifically designed bombs . In an incident after World War II , several captured German rockets containing mustard agents were accidentally launched into the surrounding countryside . Biological weapons operations were conducted at PBA from 1953 to 1969 ; but operations ceased when President Nixon banned biological weapons after public outcry over Agent Orange . Between 1954 and 1967 , at least seven different biological agents were produced at the facility . All biological agents were destroyed between 1971 and 1973 . The PBA chemical weapons stockpile consisted of declared quantities of rockets , land mines and ton containers . These obsolete weapons were safely stored in high - security structures and carefully monitored until the U . S . Army Chemical Materials Agency completed their safe elimination in November 2010 . PBA also safely stored other items classified as non - stockpile chemical materiel , which is not part of the nation ’ s chemical weapons stockpile . The U . S . Army Chemical Material Agency completed a number of treaty - mandated chemical warfare disposal operations at PBA , described below . Pine Bluff Ton Container Decontamination Facility ( PBTCDF ) : The PBTCDF began operations in September 2003 , with the mission of decontaminating and recycling more than 4 , 300 empty ton containers ( TCs ) stored at PBA . The 1 , 600 - pound steel containers once held hazardous materials and required decontamination for residual chemical agent hazard . Operators heated the TCs to 1 , 000 degrees F for 60 minutes , well in excess of the standard required by the Army to achieve chemical agent decontamination . This process significantly reduced liquid waste . Once decontaminated , TCs were loaded onto trailers for transport to a treatment , storage and disposal facility . There , they were cut in half , any remaining residue was removed , and the steel was recycled . PBTCDF successfully completed operations in July 2011 ; one result of this process was the recycling of more than 6 , 500 , 000 pounds of steel . Pine Bluff Explosive Destruction System ( PBEDS ) : PBEDS began operations in June 2006 to destroy more than 1 , 200 recovered chemical warfare munitions at PBA – the largest inventory of recovered chemical warfare materiel in the nation . The system involved three Explosive Destruction System ( EDS ) units , each set up in a vapor containment structure . The EDS uses cutting charges to explosively access chemical munitions , eliminating their explosive capacity before the chemical agent is neutralized . The PBEDS inventory included 4 . 2 - inch mortars as well as German Traktor rockets , which were captured during World War II . PBEDS operators destroyed the last munition in April 2010 , marking the destruction of all non - stockpile materiel declared when the United States entered into the Chemical Weapons Convention ( CWC ) . Pine Bluff Former Production Facilities : PBA once housed two chemical warfare production facilities , and NSCMP was charged with destroying them to comply with the CWC . Destroyed in 1999 , the BZ Fill Facility filled munitions with the agent BZ , a hallucinogen . In 2003 , NSCMP began demolition of the former Pine Bluff Integrated Binary Production Facilities ( PB IBPF ) , designed to produce binary chemicals and fill binary chemical weapons . These weapons were designed to mix two non - lethal chemicals to form a chemical agent in flight to a target . The DF Production / M20 Canister Fill and Close Facility was the only facility operated . From 1988 to 1990 it produced the binary precursor methylphosphonic difluoride ( DF ) , inserting the chemical into coffee can - sized M20 canisters for use in the M687 155 mm Binary Artillery Projectile . The BLU - 80 / B Bigeye Bomb Fill Facility , QL Production Facility and DC Production Facility never operated , and all were demolished . The final remaining PB IBPF building , intended to fill binary munitions for the Multiple Launch Rocket System , but never used for that purpose , was reutilized as the Pine Bluff Binary Destruction Facility ( PB BDF ) , to neutralize the binary precursor chemicals DF and QL . After neutralization was completed in October 2006 , demolition of the building commenced . Completed on Dec . 28 , 2006 , it marked the end of the PB IBPF demolition and the last former chemical warfare production facility destroyed in the United States . This accomplishment was significant since it enabled NSCMP to surpass the Chemical Weapons Convention ( CWC ) treaty milestone of demolition of all the nation ’ s former production facilities four months ahead of schedule . Approximately 2 , 800 tons of metal were recycled from the IBPF . Assessment : Contents of recovered items at PBA were identified using the Pine Bluff Munitions Assessment System ( PBMAS ) . PBMAS determined the contents and explosive condition of items before processing to enhance safe handling , treatment and disposal . PBMAS began analyzing the items in July 2005 , using an X - ray system known as Digital Radiography and Computed Tomography , along with an assessment system known as Portable Isotopic Neutron Spectroscopy . Prior to PBMAS , NSCMP also assessed 300 drums that contained recovered chemical warfare materiel , known as the XP300 mission . Chemical Agent Identification Set ( CAIS ) Destruction : Another successful NSCMP mission at PBA included the Rapid Response System ( RRS ) , a transportable treatment technology , which processed more than 5 , 300 CAIS items once stored at PBA . The RRS began operations in August 2005 , and completed processing in November 2006 . For decades the arsenal stored chemical agent rockets ( GB55 ' s ) . During the 1980s , these were defueled and the warheads were destroyed . Mustard agent , VX , G and Sarin were stored in large bunkers on the premises . The Associated Press reported a leak in a container of white phosphorus was suspected to have ignited the fire that destroyed a warehouse at the Pine Bluff Arsenal on June 6 , 2005 . White smoke from the fire was seen as far away as six miles . When the fire was extinguished , approximately 19 hours later , officials reported the fire destroyed more than 7 , 500 canisters of white phosphorus . In the same article AP reported the Pine Bluff Chemical Activity was home to 12 percent of the nation ' s chemical weapons stockpile . " This stockpile was safely destroyed March 2005 - November 2010 . Facilities . PBA is housed on with 665 buildings , 271 igloos and storage capacity of . Additionally , PBA has more than of land with the potential to be developed .