Operations at Anniston incinerator resume

By Brian Lyman
Star Staff Writer
04-28-2005

Crews at the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility began destroying sarin-filled 155-mm shells Tuesday, resuming weapons processing after about three weeks of reconfiguring the machinery to accept the shells. The shells, the third type of weapons to be processed at the facility, are expected to be destroyed within two months. “We hazard to put a specific number of days in there, but under our current estimation, we expect it to take a few weeks or a couple of months,” said Michael Abrams, a spokesman for the Army’s Chemical Materials Agency, which oversees operations at Anniston. Crews currently are devoting their attention to ensuring that the systems on the machinery check out and will gradually move up to their optimal feed rates. The facility held back about 2,200 sarin-filled 8-inch projectiles from destruction in case the Alabama Department of Environmental Management requests more emissions tests. The shells were used for a test burn in March that established feed rates and measured emissions at the disposal facility. Some of the machinery still can accept 8-inch projectiles. Through Tuesday, the incinerator had destroyed 56,593 munitions – 42,762 missiles and warheads and 13,831 8-inch projectiles – and nearly 600,000 pounds of agent. Some 14.6 percent of the Depot’s original chemical weapons stockpile has been destroyed.

About Brian Lyman

Brian Lyman covers infrastructure and the cities of Heflin and Lincoln for the Anniston Star. He lives in Anniston.