The U.S. Army will not begin destroying chemical weapons agents at the Anniston Army Depot incinerator in Alabama until local officials are more prepared to respond in the event of an emergency, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 6, 2002).

The depot stores 2,254 tons of chemical agents, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

While no startup date has been scheduled yet, it is hoped that local officials can quickly resolve any remaining emergency preparedness issues, said Michael Parker, interim director of the Chemical Materials Agency, responsible for the chemical weapons disposal effort.  Mike Burney, director of the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency, said he hoped all response measures would be in place by October.

The Army is also working to meet a series of benchmarks included in a letter sent by Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) to the secretary of the Army in January, Parker said.  Those benchmarks include increased funding for additional protective measures for vulnerable groups of people and responsibility for activating a siren system in the event of an incident at the depot (Associated Press/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 2).

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