Contractor gives its own safety award

By Rob Jordan
Star Staff Writer
06-04-2004

BYNUM — Less than four months after a trace amount of sarin nerve agent was released accidentally from the chemical weapons incinerator, the head of the company running the facility called its safety record “outstanding.” During a visit last week, Stephen Hanks, chief executive officer of Washington Group, lauded what he described as a precise and disciplined management culture at the incinerator. Washington Group, a 30,000-employee corporation with more than 700 defense, mining, engineering and power projects worldwide, is the parent company of Westinghouse Anniston, the contractor in charge of the incinerator. Hanks presented an award to employees, recognizing the incinerator as the safest of Washington Group’s projects during 2003. Hanks pointed to what he said was a streak of 5.5 million man-hours without a major injury, and individual employees’ ability to shut down the system based on safety concerns. Hanks said employees had safely and effectively dealt with a February incident in which a microscopic amount of sarin escaped, and he stressed that the community had not been in danger at any time. If area residents could see the incinerator’s inner workings, they would feel confident and secure with it, Hanks said. “They would be very proud,” he said. The problem is, nobody knows for certain what is going on at the facility, said Craig Williams, head of the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group, an anti-incinerator group. Without steady, verifiable information, company safety claims are little more than “rhetoric,” Williams said. By controlling information about operations, incinerator officials can put a good face on problems, Williams said. “You can make that thing look like Disney World,” he said. The incinerator’s safety award may be more of an attempt at public relations than meaningful evaluation, Williams said. Williams said he had requested in August that incinerator officials release more information, such as updates on maintenance work and munitions transports, on a daily, monthly and quarterly basis. He said he had not received a response. Additionally, Williams said, there’s no way to know whether the incinerator is compliant with environmental regulations, because state and federal regulatory agencies have yet to release full data on the facility’s emissions. Regardless of regulatory approval, the incinerator will release toxic chemicals and will be a threat to the community, Williams said. “Burning the most lethal chemicals in the world in the middle of a highly populated area is absurd,” he said. Incinerator officials say they have nothing to hide and have met all necessary regulations. Regular updates and general information are available to the public through community meetings, a Web site and the Army’s outreach office in downtown Anniston, said Westinghouse spokesman Donavan Mager. Incinerator officials release to local media daily updates that include the quantity of rockets and agent burned as well as details on occasional safety and health issues. State, federal and international inspectors, some of whom are on-site around-the-clock, ensure the incinerator meets safety standards, Mager said. “If they had a problem, we wouldn’t be operating today,” Mager said. Greg Mahall, an Army spokesman, said he had received Williams’ request for more information, but he said he did not know whether his office had sent a reply. Complying with Williams’ request for additional information would be burdensome and counter-productive to operations, said Army spokesman Mike Abrams. “Just to pump out reams of paper just because someone’s personal or political agenda isn’t being met is counter-productive,” Abrams said.

About Rob Jordan

Rob Jordan covers criminal justice issues for The Star.