Anniston to Stop Incinerating Chemical Munitions for Maintenance

The U.S. Army’s Anniston chemical weapons incinerator will stop burning sarin-filled rockets for up to three weeks during a maintenance check on the facility, Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, May 10).

Site manager Tim Garrett said rocket incineration would stop Tuesday so crews can perform preventive maintenance and inspect the facility. Maintenance sessions are expected about once a year, Garrett said. No malfunctions or operational concerns prompted the check, he added.

Garrett said the maintenance check would likely coincide with destruction of the last drainable sarin rocket.

“It just so happens the stars aligned and we can do it,” he said.

Garrett also said the incinerator will dispose of Anniston’s entire sarin rocket stockpile by August or September if the current schedule is kept and that all the depot’s sarin and VX munitions are set to be destroyed by July 2006 (Associated Press/Tuscaloosa News, May 27).

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