Atlanta Journal-Constitution
August 2, 2003

School safety worries some on eve of weapons disposal

By JAY REEVES
Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM -- Activists who have spent years fighting the startup of an incinerator to destroy chemical weapons say it is wrong to begin burning munitions while schools are still scrambling to install safety equipment.

The Army plans to start destroying chemical weapons in east Alabama next week, just as thousands of children who live in neighboring communities return to class.

The military contends the $1 billion incineration program at Anniston Army Depot is perfectly safe, and a spokesman said Friday the timing of the startup with the beginning of school was a coincidence.

But activists are unconvinced. "It's a formula for disaster," said opponent Rufus Kinney. "It's like when the Titanic took off without enough lifeboats." The facility is the military's first chemical weapons incinerator located in a populated area.

The Army said Thursday it plans to begin conducting test burns of M-55 rockets loaded with GB nerve gas, or sarin, on Wednesday. That's the day before some 9,500 children return to class in Calhoun County schools, and thousands more attend city schools in the county.

While 10 area schools have been equipped with special air filtration systems that would be used during an accident, Calhoun Superintendent Jacky Sparks said work at seven more campuses in the county is not scheduled to be finished until Oct. 1.

Officials said more than two dozen schools in the region have yet to be fully outfitted.

Incinerator spokesman Mike Abrams said beginning test burns at the start of the school year does not pose an added risk.