The Associated Press
September 11, 2003

Shelby, activists still seek better monitoring for Anniston Depot

Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby and activists are still calling for better monitoring at the Army's chemical weapons incinerator in Anniston, a month after the center began destroying deadly, Cold War-era munitions.

They are concerned the Army has no alarms around the perimeter of the site and that monitors inside the complex have had false alarms and long delays for verification.

Congress already has mandated "maximum protection" for the people and area surrounding the depot where the Army is destroying the weapons. But Shelby and state environmental regulators are asking whether the monitors in Anniston are providing maximum protection.

Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, co-sponsored a resolution asking the secretary of the Army to create "real-time" monitoring systems for airborne chemicals at stockpile disposal sites nationwide.

Members of the state Environmental Management Commission say they plan to ask for a demonstration of the new technology.

"This community deserves the best technology, and with the best technology, whatever that is, comes a higher level of trust and comfort," said Pete Conroy, director of Jacksonville State University's Environment Policy and Information Center.

The Army has one monitor in its incinerator stack that continuously tests air for the lethal gas sarin. It also has stack monitors for the basic air pollutants covered under the U.S. Clean Air Act, such as nitrogen oxide. But it does not monitor for other dangerous pollutants that are hazards of chemical weapons incineration, such as PCBs, dioxins and heavy metals.

The incinerator was tested for hazardous pollution during a test burn, but it will be tested for hazardous air only once during operations - after it finishes its "shakedown" period of slowly ramping up to a full burn. Then the equipment will be disconnected.

Though proponents say the upgraded monitoring would help, others say it could be worse.

James Dillon, an Army chemist who said he tested a similar system in the mid-1990s, said it wasn't as sensitive as the current equipment and was prone to false alarms "all the time."

Army officials say the current stack monitor sounds an alarm within eight to 15 seconds of detecting nerve gas. The community should be alerted while information is taken to a laboratory to determine whether sarin actually was captured, a process that takes about 60 to 90 minutes.

Dillon said the proposed system would cause only more false alarms, and wouldn't provide the community with quicker notification.

But proponents say they're asking the Army to add to its monitoring system, not replace the current one.

The Army plans to destroy some 2,254 tons of chemical weapons that have been stored in earthen bunkers dating back as far as World War II.

Information from: The Birmingham News