The facility was designed and built, and our workforce has been extensively trained, to safely destroy weapons filled with nerve agent and other chemical warfare materiel. Our disposal technology and process, with numerous built-in safety features, keeps chemical agents in the facility throughout disposal operations. On a daily basis, operating personnel, who are my co-workers, safely perform their assigned duties in the toxic areas of the facility. They wear the proper protective equipment for these operations. They strictly follow the procedures that were written and tested to guaranty their safety and the safety of the community.
On Feb. 4, workers were performing a routine maintenance task inside an area where agent contamination could exist. After completing the procedures to exit this work area, monitoring equipment indicated that the workers potentially had a minute amount of vapor contamination on their clothing. As part of the normal routine for personnel who make entries into these types of areas, the workers were evaluated by qualified medical personnel who confirmed that that the workers were not exposed chemical agents.
This incident had nothing to do with the agent destruction technology used at the ANCDF. All chemical weapons destruction facilities, whether they employ incineration or neutralization destruction technologies, will have areas where agent contamination could exist. Each time workers are required to perform maintenance tasks in such areas, there is the very limited potential for a situation such as that occurred on Feb 4 to take place. The good news is that, when this incident occurred, our facility and our procedures provided the needed measure of safety that protected my co-workers as well as the community.
My co-workers and I are committed to ensuring that the community and the entire work force are kept safe. The ANCDF workforce lives in this community and is committed to performing the honorable task of destroying the chemical weapons stockpile in a safe manner to rid the community of this burden as soon as possible.
The Anniston team and I are duty bound to manage the ANCDF so that we operate safely and within the limitations of our regulatory permits, as well as standing regulations and laws. I am also duty bound, when I believe the public has been provided inaccurate information, to say so. I invite anyone who wants additional facts and information about the ANCDF to contact me through the Community Outreach Office on Tenth Street in Anniston. The telephone number there is 256-238-0120.
Timothy K. Garrett, Site Project Manager
Anniston Chemical Disposal Facility