Incinerator prepares for new tests

By Nathan Solheim
Assistant Metro Editor
03-25-2004

Operations at the Anniston Army Depot’s chemical weapons incinerator are on hold this week as workers prepare for another set of tests of the facility’s capability. The tests, called agent trial burns, determine whether the incinerator meets health and environmental requirements while processing crystalline rockets. Crystalline rockets are M-55 rockets filled with deadly GB nerve agent that has formed crystals. Crystalline rockets are hard to drain because the crystals are about the size of rock salt. The tests are the second agent trial burns the incinerator has performed. The incinerator, by narrow margins, failed parts of its first round of agent trial burns because it could not remove enough PCBs from its waste stream. The incinerator had to redo those parts for the Environmental Protection Agency a few weeks ago. This round of tests, though not quite as thorough as the first ones, had workers fine-tuning the facility for most of the week. “They were cleaning out some material and making sure the deactivation furnace is ready to go,” said Donavan Mager, a spokesman for Westinghouse, which operates the incinerator. The furnace will be reheated over the weekend and workers will prepare for the trials early next week, Mager said. Agent trial burns will last six to seven days and the incinerator will try to demonstrate destroying 12 to 13 rockets per hour. “If we can’t get to 12 or 13, we’ll do what we can safely do,” Mager said. “That’s never been an issue.” The Alabama Department of Environmental Management will take data from the trials and decide the rate rockets can destroyed and whether it meets standards under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The EPA, which demanded the recent round of retests, is not involved with these tests, because the incinerator will not be destroying any PCB-tainted materials. Meanwhile, the Anniston Chemical Activity, which oversees the storage of chemical weapons, reported a small milestone Wednesday. The Army has cleared ten storage igloos of their contents safely. “We’re all very pleased with this accomplishment,” said Lt. Col. Robert Jones, commander of the ACA, in a release. “We have now moved 21,739 rockets, with perfect records in both safety and accountability, and we intend to do everything in our power to keep that perfect record until the last munition is shipped to the disposal facility.”

About Nathan Solheim

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