Global Security Newswire

Officials at the chemical weapons incinerator in Anniston, Ala., closed the facility yesterday after a rocket caught fire during the disposal process, the Birmingham News reported (see GSN, Nov. 13).

As M-55 rockets are destroyed, they are drained of liquid sarin but not of rocket propellant. As a rocket was being cut into pieces, the propellant burst into flames and the munition itself caught fire. The room — which has 24-inch thick concrete and steel walls and is designed to withstand an explosion — was immediately sealed and the fire quickly burned itself out.

Anniston officials this week fired a 23-year-old laboratory technician who accidentally caused a sensor to report a sarin leak at the plant. The technician was fired because he attempted to hide his role in the incident, according to the Army (Katherine Bouma, Birmingham News, Nov. 14).

The U.S. Senate, meanwhile, passed a nonbinding measure Wednesday that encourages the Army to improve its safety monitoring at chemical disposal facilities, including Anniston. The move, sponsored by Senator Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), was included in the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill, which the House of Representatives has already approved. Bunning is pushing the Army to pursue advanced technologies, such as infrared spectrometers, which some say could detect a chemical leak before existing sensors could (John Yaukey, Gannett News Service/Louisville Courier-Journal, Nov. 13).

Army officials, however, insisted that the existing sensors are sufficient.

“The Army remains firm in its belief that the current system of monitoring is effective and provides for the protection of its workers, the community and the environment,” said spokeswoman Cynthia Smith in a written statement (Katherine Bouma, Birmingham News, Nov. 13).