Alabama Governor Bob Riley has refused to sign a memorandum of agreement with the U.S. Army over a chemical weapons incinerator located at the Anniston Army Depot unless he is given the authority to stop the incinerator if necessary, the Birmingham News reported Saturday (see GSN, July 24).

Riley is requesting a clause in the memorandum that would state that he would have the authority to shut down the incinerator if the Army does not fulfill its safety commitments, Riley’s spokesman David Azbell said.  The Army is considering Riley’s request, a Defense Department spokeswoman said.

The Army does not need Riley’s permission to operate the incinerator, according to the News.  Even so, earlier this year officials began discussing the memorandum, which sets the terms agreed to by Alabama and the Army to begin the incinerator’s operation.  The memorandum requires the signatures of Acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee, a Homeland Security Department official and Riley.

“By having the MOA, it gives the governor the assurance that his concerns have been resolved and at the same time, with this clause it gives him the ability to take action on behalf of the people of Alabama,” Azbell said (Katherine Bouma, Birmingham News, July 26).

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