Anniston Star
January 31, 2003

Schools, day cares set for over-pressurization

By Jason Landers
Star Staff Writer
01-31-2003

Calhoun County Schools Superintendent Jacky Sparks, right, and Saks Middle School Principal Donald Turner watch as students head to the buses Thursday afternoon. Sparks had received word about over-pressurization earlier in the day. Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star

For a new list of facilities slated for over-pressurization or other protective measures, see below the end of this story.

The smile on the face of Calhoun County Schools Superintendent Jacky Sparks said it all.

"We're elated," the veteran school official said Thursday, hours after learning a two-year battle to protect local students in the event of a chemical weapons disaster had ended.

Schools and day-care facilities within a 12-mile radius of the Anniston Army Depot, where 2,254 tons of aging chemical weapons are stored, will be fitted with protective air filtration systems by October, Army officials said Thursday.

The agreement, struck Wednesday during a meeting between Army officials and freshman Congressman Mike Rogers, dramatically accelerates the construction schedule to protect the buildings. Initially, the Army insisted the project would take two years, and no starting date was in sight.

Air is purified through a process known as over-pressurization. It uses massive filters that cleanse outside air contaminated with nerve or blister agent. Clean air then is pumped through the filters into a designated room, typically a gym or cafeteria, where students can safely weather a chemical storm for days if need be. Many experts say such a system offers the best protection against chemical agent.

The filtration units would be turned on in the unlikely event of a chemical weapons release at the depot.

"I am delighted the Army listened to our concerns and agreed to this schedule," Rogers said in a press release. "We still have much work to do, but I believe we are on the right track "

Three weeks ago, the freshman congressman was sworn into office. Aides say he's still learning the ropes in Washington. "It takes a while to get to know things," said spokesman Marshall Macomber. But the agreement Rogers reached with the Army shows he definitely knows his way around a negotiation table.

For more than two years now, local, state and federal officials have pressured the Army to provide the protection. While promises were made, the actual construction appeared as little more than shadows on a distant horizon. Completion was estimated for late 2004 or beyond.

Rogers' office says the congressman is well aware that he is reaping what others before him have sown. The list of Washington officials who have called for over-pressurization include former U.S. Rep. and now Gov. Bob Riley, Sen. Jeff Sessions and Sen. Richard Shelby.

On the day Rogers was finalizing the deal, Shelby fired off a blistering letter to the Secretary of the Army. Shelby threatened to withdraw support for startup of the billion-dollar chemical weapons incinerator if four community preparedness items weren't met.

First among Shelby's list of demands was an expedited program to over-pressurize schools. The Army's two-year timetable was unacceptable, he said.

"This is a step in the right direction - a step that should have been taken a long time ago," Shelby spokeswoman Andrea Andrews said after learning of the agreement.

Reverberations of the deal echoed like sweet music in Montgomery. "The governor feels strongly that the Army needs to carry through with the commitments it made to Anniston," Riley spokesman David Azbell said. "And this commitment certainly seems to be a step in the right direction."

The Mobile District Corps of Engineers has been tasked with awarding contracts to start the over-pressurization project.

"We are expecting to award contracts for seven of the schools in February," said COE spokesman Pat Robbins. "We have another five scheduled for March, five for April, five for May and the last in June."

In all, 27 new school and daycare facilities are slated for over-pressurization or enhanced shelter-in-place - the latter utilizing filters to re-circulate interior air while creating an airtight seal. It will cost about $42 million, Robbins said.

Additionally, more than a dozen other facilities are either undergoing construction or slated for it. An almost equal number of schools and facilities already have some protective system in place.

"We're thrilled to be able to accelerate the program," said Maj. Rudy Burwell, an Army spokesman stationed at the Pentagon.

The new schedule means construction will be complete at all of the schools and day cares by October, officials at the COE, Army officials in Washington, and Rogers said.

"This will give parents a comfort zone," said Sparks, who is among a number of superintendents who have been begging for the technology. "They (the parents) can feel very confident about leaving their children at school."

SCHOOLS ON NEW OVER-PRESSURIZATION LIST:

· Ohatchee High

· Cobb Elementary

· Saks Middle

· Saks Elementary

· Saks High

· Weaver Elementary

· Weaver High

· Lincoln School (Talladega)

· Trinity Christian

· Anniston Middle

· C.E. Hanna Elementary

· Sacred Heart Catholic

· Constantine Elementary

· Oxford Elementary

· Oxford Jr. High

· Oxford High

· Oxford Special Ed

· Tenth St. Elementary

· Anniston High

· Faith Christian

· Golden Springs

· Donoho

· Ohatchee Elementary

· Rest Haven Baptist Church

· Evelyn D. Hall Head Start

· 17th Street Baptist Church

· Constantine Day Care

SCHOOLS ALREADY OVER-PRESSURIZED:

· Bynum Elementary

· Coldwater Elementary

· Wellborn Elementary

· Wellborn High

· Foursquare Christian Academy

· Randolph Park Elementary

· Alexandria Elementary

· Alexandria High

· Heritage Christian (Enhanced Shelter)

FACILITIES SLATED FOR OVER-PRESSURIZATION:

· Carver Community Center

· Glen Addie Community Center

· Anniston City Jail

PROJECTS COMPLETED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR OVER-PRESSURIZATION (O) OR ENHANCED SHELTER (ES):

· Alexandria School Special Education Building (O)

· Coosa Valley Youth Detention Center (ES)

· Ohatchee High School Gym (O)

· Calhoun County Jail (ES)

· United Cerebral Palsy Center (ES)

· Calhoun County 911 (ES)

PROJECTS AWARDED, WAITING FOR CONSTRUCTION:

· Colonial Pines (ES)

· Beckwood Manor (ES)

· Stringfellow Hospital (ES)

· Regional Medical Center (ES)