Anniston Star
February 28, 2003

Parker: Community needs to be ready before burn operation begins

By Jason Landers
Star Staff Writer
02-28-2003

The new chief of the Army's chemical weapons disposal program has reversed what had been an ironclad policy concerning Anniston.

In his first week on the job, Michael Parker, interim director of the newly formed Chemical Materials Agency, linked startup of operations at the Army's chemical weapons incinerator with community preparedness.

It is the first time an Army official publicly has said the community should be ready for a release of nerve and blister agent before the burn operation starts.

The move marks a major policy shift, the end of a decade-old Army assertion that storage and demilitarization operations are separate. That assertion held until last week when the new agency was formed. The provisional Chemical Materials Agency combines the two facets. It becomes an official Army entity in October. Parker, for now, is calling the shots.

The interim director touched on the preparedness issue during an hour-long telephone interview this week. Parker said the Army is working to meet four readiness benchmarks as spelled out by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, in a January letter to the secretary of the Army.

In that letter, Shelby threatened to withdraw support for startup of the billion-dollar incinerator unless the Army implemented the measures.

The senator's demands include:

· Over-pressurizing area schools within a 12-mile radius of the facility - something the Army had said would take two years but now says it can do by October.

· Shelby also called on the Army to take responsibility from Calhoun County for activating a siren warning system if there is an incident at the Anniston Army Depot, where tons of the aging weapons are stored.

· The Army must fund additional protective measures for populations such as the elderly and disabled.

· And it must provide accurate, updated toxicity information about the nerve and blister agent stored here.

"Those issues need to be resolved," Parker said, taking the time to do something his predecessors rarely did: talk candidly with the press.

Going beyond what Shelby outlined, Parker defined who would be in the best position to say when the community is prepared.

According to the new agency's chief, that task won't fall on bureaucrats in Washington, as has been the case. Rather, local emergency management officials will say when the community is ready.

Parker said the Chemical Materials Agency is striving to reach a point "where all (local) parties can feel that they can meet the obligations to the citizens of their county."

Once local consensus is reached, "Then we can sit down and develop an implementation schedule or a date when the plant can start," Parker said.

The Army can't give a firm startup date for the facility at this time. Parker is hopeful, however, that the outstanding preparedness issues will be resolved in time for Anniston to start burning soon. He said the plant probably will start processing chemical weapons some time following the resumption of demilitarization operations in Maryland - two other states where chemical weapons are slated for destruction.

"It is a fact that everyone at the facility is also concerned about our community and about preparedness issues," said Army incinerator spokesman Mike Abrams. "Our commitment is to safely operate the facility from the very first day through closure."

What hasn't changed is the Army's stance that continued storage and movement of the weapons is riskier than the incinerator operation.

Linking preparedness to startup is new only in Anniston. Oregon environmental regulators chose that route for an Army incinerator there. Alabama regulators, citing a policy that separated storage and demilitarization, opted against it. Oregon now says it is prepared for an emergency. Alabama says it is not.

Local officials say Parker's decision is encouraging, though the link should have been made years ago.

Mike Burney, director of the county Emergency Management Agency, said he is confident the emergency measures will be in place by October. "I'm hoping it will happen sooner than that."

Burney said residents in the area nearest the depot, known as the Pink Zone, must have home sheltering kits, indoor air re-circulation filters and protective hoods before he would sign off on startup. Additionally, he said schools within the Pink Zone and special-needs residents must be fully ready for an accident. As well, the Army must agree to sound the community notice alarm if there is an incident that could affect the community.

"If that's done," Burney said, "then we will begin to look at an alternative processing method, something that wouldn't raise the risk of an accident significantly but would allow the destruction process to begin."

Progress has been made in the preparedness arena since early January. Millions of federal dollars have funneled to the county in recent weeks to pay for most of the emergency items.

Gov. Bob Riley, R-Ashland, and members of the state's congressional delegation are applauding Parker's commitment to preparedness, but view the statements with a cautious optimism that is born from years of frustrating let downs.

"(The governor) is cautiously satisfied," said spokesman Pepper Bryars. "The Army's decision means that they now agree with the arguments Mr. Riley, the congressional delegation and the citizens have been making for years. That being said, we do not need to take our eyes off the ball."

Bryars said the governor opposes "moving forward with incineration until every single safety concern has been satisfied, not signaled that it is going to be satisfied, but being satisfied in actuality."

Shelby said, "I look forward to working with Mike Parker and his CMA staff to accomplish the remaining safety issues." He also praised the emphasis Parker has placed on including the community more in the preparedness equation.

"Challenges remain," Shelby said. "But I am optimistic Mr. Parker's leadership will elevate the level of preparedness to where it needs to be so the Anniston destruction facility can begin to destroy these weapons."

Similarly, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Anniston, was pleased with Parker's comments. He said, "It is consistent with the concerns of our congressional delegation and Gov. Riley, and shows another way we're working together to get the stockpile destroyed as quickly and safely as possible."