Although the Library of Congress' chemical book preservation experiment had to be blown up last year because it was so dangerous, library officials told a congressional subcommittee that they are moving ahead with the project. NASA had been under contract with the library to conduct the experiment. On Feb. 21 NASA engineers, unable to safely vent 700 pounds of liquid DEZ (diethyl zinc) trapped in the system, called in a special Army demolitions team from Fort Meade to blow it up. No books were lost or people injured. In its liquid form, DEZ ignites in contact with air. It is shipped and stored in liquid form and used in gas form in a vacuum chamber to treat books. According to Associate Librarian Donald C. Curran, Texas Alkyls chemical company has been given a contract to redesign and rebuild a DEZ test facility in Houston.