Incinerator test burn is successful

By Rob Jordan
Star Staff Writer
03-18-2005

Maybe it was the luck of the Irish. After three days of mechanical problems, the fourth attempt at a test burn went off without a hitch at Calhoun County’s chemical weapons incinerator Thursday – St. Patrick’s Day – according to officials there. At about 3 p.m., six hours after it began, the test of the plant’s metal-parts furnace, which processes eight-inch artillery shells, concluded, according to Tim Garrett, the Army’s site manager. The run, a mandatory test of emissions and processing rate, was one of four the Army is scheduled to conduct. Garrett said he expects the last of the tests will be completed by next Wednesday. In the weeks after the final test, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management will analyze information from the trial burns to measure emissions from the furnace and determine how many shells at a time can be processed safely. Thursday’s burn originally was scheduled for Monday. It was put off first after a pump in a pollution-cleaning system lost power. Then, Tuesday, mechanical glitches stopped a machine that removes blaster caps and a robot that drains chemical agent from projectiles. Wednesday, a small part broke on a conveyor mechanism, halting the process again. Workers repaired the last of the malfunctions by Wednesday evening.

About Rob Jordan

Rob Jordan covers Oxford for The Star.