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Anniston Army Depot Plans Daytime Chemical Weapons Burns
The U.S. Army received permission from the Defense Department Wednesday to begin daytime incineration of its chemical weapons stockpile at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama (see GSN, Oct. 15). Depot officials had been slowing chemical destruction operations during school hours, but schools in surrounding communities have now been fitted with special filters and pressurized rooms in case of an emergency, Alabama’s Birmingham News reported. “We feel comfortable with what’s been done by the Army, and they have met their commitment,” said Jacky Sparks, superintendent of the Calhoun County School System. Schools have also been holding drills on how to react in the case of a chemical release. The daytime burns had been delayed at the request of Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). Until now, the Army had drained chemical munitions during the day and incinerated material at night and on weekends. The Army wants to burn on an accelerated schedule to prove to regulators that the depot can safely handle a full-load of weapons. “We can’t deliver as many rockets as we need — safely and efficiently — with just an hour or two of daylight in the afternoon,” said Army spokesman Mike Abrams. “We can’t demonstrate the capacity of the system burning just at night, delivering on weekends,” he added (Katherine Bouma, Alabama’s Birmingham News, Oct. 16). A recently released National Research Council report — sponsored by the Army — supported Army plans to speed the destruction of chemical-filled M55 rockets. “Because there is a small chance that stored sarin- and VX-filled rockets might self-ignite at any time and release toxic agents and metals, these rockets need to be destroyed as soon as possible,” said James Mathis, a retired Exxon engineer and the chairman of the committee that wrote the report. The report said the Anniston facility should be able to destroy the chemical weapons faster than the 1.6 per hour rate at a military incinerator in Tooele, Utah. The committee warned of destroying 34 per hour, which the Army accomplished while burning non-lethal agents. Depot officials said they are hoping to destroy about 14 per hour. “There are concerns and sensitivities and we are aware of those, and we believe the schedule we have can accommodate that,” Abrams said (Mary Orndorff, Birmingham News, Oct. 16).
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