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United States I: Tooele Chemical Weapons Incinerator Falls Short in Test By David McGlinchey “The numbers that came out of the test burn were not within the parameters of the permit,” said Greg Mahall, a spokesman at the Army’s Chemical Materials Agency. The incinerator apparently did not burn as much of the chemical as regulations require, possibly releasing some into the atmosphere, but the shortfall was negligible, according to Mahall. Environmental regulations mandate that 99.9999 percent of the chemical be destroyed. Tests indicated that the incinerator last week destroyed 99.99985 percent of the gas. The problem might lie with the testing process and not the incinerator, Mahall added. “It is cause for concern from the point that it doesn’t meet the permit, it behooves one to stop and look at this,” he said. Army officials have suspended the incineration of fiberglass shipping and firing tubes for M-55 rockets, which contain the chemicals that might have been released. Army officials, Mahall said, are “being as protective as [they] can.” An environmental activist group said yesterday, however, that they might use the Tooele test as legal ammunition to stop chemical weapons incineration at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama (see related GSN story, today). The group sought a temporary restraining order against the Anniston incinerator last week, but it was rejected Friday. In arguing against the restraining order, Army lawyers cited the success of the Tooele incinerator. “Part of the argument they made was the performance and maturity and efficacy of the facility in Utah,” said Craig Williams, who heads the Chemical Weapons Working Group. Citing the troubled Umatilla incinerator in Oregon — which has failed several test burns — Williams said the overall outlook is not good for the Army’s incineration program. “Start connecting the dots, look at the big picture,” he said, the incinerators are “not all that they are advertised to be.” Tooele county officials said they do not believe the Army’s incineration program should be suspended because of last week’s test results at their local incinerator. The regulatory levels for burning chemical weapons “are set so conservatively … that even the failed level is no harm,” said Wade Mathews, a spokesman for Tooele County. Tooele County Commissioner Gene White said that last week’s test “doesn’t create an unsafe situation.” “It doesn’t completely concern me right at this particular point,” he added. The Tooele officials said that some of their worry is alleviated because their facility is not located in the midst of a residential area, unlike the Anniston plant, where about 30,000 residents live within nine miles of the incinerator.
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