Incineration resumes after halt to clean out ash

By Nathan Solheim
Assistant Metro Editor
01-21-2004

Destruction of chemical weapons resumed this weekend at the Anniston Chemical Disposal Facility after an unplanned break of a little less than two weeks. The incinerator stopped processing Jan. 6 after workers discovered that enough ash to fill 20 55-gallon drums had collected and hardened into a concrete-like substance in a chute leading to the facility’s deactivation furnace. The deactivation furnace burns emptied M-55 rocket parts and small amounts of GB nerve agent, or sarin. Workers also used the break to perform maintenance on the incinerator. The shutdown came at a time when ANCDF workers are destroying rockets containing agent that has crystallized. The facility has processed 312 of the rockets since Saturday. Mike Abrams, an Army spokesman, said officials have not yet devised a solution to the ash problem, nor have they determined how the ash was created. Workers removed the ash, which is inert, officials said. Last week, Army Project Manager Tim Garrett said the ash could have come from burning the 15,000 rockets with no sign of crystals, but he could not rule out the possibility the ash had resulted from burning rockets in which the crystals have formed. Abrams said Tuesday that officials are draining liquid agent from crystalline rockets in an attempt to discern whether the ash could have come from those rockets. “We’re still working on that, and one of the ways we’re looking at trying to prevent a recurrence is by draining the rockets,” Abrams said. Officials are engaged in a shakedown on gelled and crystalline rocket destruction. They’re working out problems that occur and preparing for critical tests of the facility’s effectiveness and environmental impact, called agent trial burns. Workers at ANCDF have destroyed more than 15,000 M-55 rockets and 17,000 gallons of GB nerve agent since the facility began operations Aug. 9.

About Nathan Solheim

Assistant Metro Editor Nathan Solheim is Minnesota native and a University of Georgia graduate.