Anniston Star
January 15, 2003

Golden Springs parents ponder preparedness

By J.Wes Yoder
Star Staff Writer
01-15-2003

The children of Golden Springs Elementary will be safe in the event of a chemical weapons accident at the Anniston Army Depot or at the Army's new incinerator, Army officials told the school's parents at a meeting Tuesday night.

Federal money is available to install an air filtering system, called overpressurization that would provide the school with full protection from any airborne nerve agent.

It seems likely the Anniston City School Board will choose overpressurization for the school, instead of an alternative method called shelter-in-place, which involves sealing doors and windows with duct tape and plastic. Both options were presented to the 50 or so parents who attended the meeting.

Area school boards repeatedly have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to overpressurize every school within 12 miles of the weapons stockpile. The few parents who spoke at Tuesday's meeting also favored the option.

However, the full protection system for Golden Springs Elementary could be provided no sooner than August, said Dennis Tutwiler of the Army Corps of Engineers. With the Army set to begin incineration at the end of this month, there would be a period where protective measures aren't in place while chemical weapons are being destroyed. This is unacceptable in the minds of many Golden Springs parents.

"None of this is a surprise," said Katie Gehlhausen, who has a daughter in the third grade.
"They've (the Army) done too much talking and not enough doing."

Even if incineration starts on schedule, Bob Phillips, principal of Golden Springs Elementary, said he is not overly concerned for the safety of the school's 280 students if a chemical mishap occurred. The school is on the outskirts of the danger area defined by FEMA, and any escaped nerve agent would likely dissipate to harmless concentration levels before it reached Golden Springs' classrooms, he said.

"After speaking with Westinghouse (the company that built the incinerator), and with engineers, with the exception of just an unimaginable tragedy, I feel like our children are safe," Phillips said.