President
Richard M. Nixon issued his "Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs" on November 25, 1969 in a speech from
Fort Detrick.
[25] The statement ended, unconditionally, all U.S. offensive biological weapons programs.
[26] Nixon noted that biological weapons were unreliable
[26] and stated:
[25]
The United States shall renounce the use of lethal biological agents and weapons, and all other methods of biological warfare. The United States will confine its biological research to defensive measures such as immunization and safety measures.
In his speech Nixon called his move "unprecedented"; and it was in fact the first review of the U.S. biological warfare program since 1954.
[27] Despite the lack of review, the biological warfare program had increased in cost and size since 1961; when Nixon ended the program the budget was $300 million annually.
[27][28] Nixon's statement confined all biological weapons research to defensive-only and ordered the destruction of the existing
U.S. biological arsenal.
[29]
U.S. biological weapons stocks were destroyed over the next few years. A $12 million disposal plan was undertaken at
Pine Bluff Arsenal,
[30] where all U.S. anti-personnel
biological agents were stored.
[29] That plan was completed in May 1972 and included decontamination of facilities at Pine Bluff.
[29][30] Other agents, including anti-crop agents such as
wheat stem rust, were stored at
Beale Air Force Base and
Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
[29] These anti-crop agents, along with agents at Fort Detrick used for research purposes were destroyed in March 1973.
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