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 n September 2006 the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) expanded its Chemical Accident Prevention Program (CAPP) to cover storage facilities that handle large quantities of mercury.
In effect, NDEP added Mercury to the list of highly hazardous substances, which are regulated under CAPP program regulations (NAC 459.9533). Under CAPP, stored mercury will be regulated at a threshold quantity of 200,000 pounds or 100 tons. The principle facility in Nevada to be impacted by the new regulatory program is the Hawthorne Army Ammunition Depot.
The Army Depot is located in Mineral County, Nevada. The facility consists of 147,236 acres
(59,585 ha) of withdrawn public land. The western half of the depot is undeveloped mountainous land containing Mt. Grant (elevation 11,245 ft [3,427 m]). Walker Lake borders the
depot to the north.
In 2006 the depot at Hawthorne was selected by the Defense National Stockpile Center as the single entity in the United State for long-term storage (40 + years) of the U.S. Government's national stockpile of mercury. The stockpile consists of approximately 4,890 tons of commodity-grade, elemental mercury. The selection process was determined through an Environmental Impact Statement issued by the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense National Stockpile Center, DoD.
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