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Dugway Proving Ground continues to face issues with its accounting and oversight of chemicals, including the deadly nerve agent sarin, according to a recent Department of Defense Inspector General report.

The Army facility in western Utah drew international attention in 2015 for mistakenly shipping live anthrax to labs across the United States and South Korea. An Army investigation at the time found a "complacent atmosphere" at Dugway had helped lead to the scandal.

Now, in a report released last month titled "The Army Needs to Improve Controls Over Chemical Surety Materials," Dugway is again facing criticism — including for improperly inspecting chemical-laden storage containers and not giving immediate notice of a sarin shortage.

The report also examined the U.S. Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado, Utah's retired Deseret Chemical Depot and an unnamed contractor facility, though most of the report's critiques resulted from the inspector general's Dugway audit.

Chemicals often are stored in at least two containers, but when conducting inventories, Dugway officials failed to always inspect the inner container holding the chemical itself, the report said. "[T]herefore, custodians cannot identify and account for leaks, evaporation, or theft that may have occurred," inspector general officials wrote.

During an April 19, 2016, inventory, officials found a 1.5 milliliter shortage of sarin in one container. But they did not immediately notify an Army chemical accountability officer of the shortage or properly document results of the inventory, the report said.

A Dugway official who conducted the inventory said the shortage may have been due to leakage or evaporation but there was no evidence it was due to theft.

Exposure to even small amounts of sarin can lead to death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sarin gas was thought to be used in the Syrian attack that killed dozens of people earlier this year.

Dugway officials also did not properly divide chemical oversight duties between two people. "Although we did not identify instances of fraud or theft during the audit, not segregating the accountable officer and primary agent custodian duties increases the risk of record-keeping errors and theft," the report stated.

Army officials largely agreed with the findings and recommendations for improvement. Dugway officials were asked to conduct another full inventory to establish a "baseline" before implementing alternative accounting procedures in the future. The facility also was supposed to update operating procedures, provide refresher training, and implement more internal controls to ensure effective controls over chemical stockpiles.

Dugway leadership did not, however, agree with the inspector general's recommendation to segregate the duties of chemical oversight between two people.

Many of the recommendations have already been implemented, including the baseline inventory and refresher training, Dugway spokesman Robert Saxon said Thursday.

"We appreciate the audit and feedback on our program," Saxon said. "Dugway is probably one of the most audited installations in the country, just because of our mission. So we appreciate those audits because they help keep our processes up to date."

Twitter: @lramseth