Anniston Star
July 8, 2003

Start-up date not OK'd yet: Official says public and media will be notified before incinerator begins

By Sara Clemence
Star Staff Writer
07-08-2003

Anniston's chemical weapons incinerator will not start up this week, contrary to some recent media reports, Army and state environmental officials said Monday.

"The bottom line right now is, I do not have an approved date when we will start," said Mike Abrams, spokesman for the Anniston Chemical Weapons Disposal Facility.

At least two local television stations, Fox 6 and NBC 13, reported in recent days that the incinerator was about to fire up. Both stations said Monday they would run corrections to weekend newscasts.

The report on Fox 6 was "misleading" said a station manager.

The remaining legal and political requirements for incineration may be met in the next few weeks, Abrams said.

"I believe that it's possible that everything will be resolved for us to start by the end of the month," Abrams said. He stressed that he has "every intention of notifying the public and the media before we start."

In early June, the Department of Defense notified Congress that in 30 days it would be ready to begin burning the 2,253 tons of nerve and blister agent stored at the Anniston Army Depot. But that did not mean it necessarily would fire up the facility in a month.

Before the Army can proceed with the incineration, international monitors must be present to witness the destruction, the state environmental agency must issue a final permit and the governor must sign off on the process.

Meanwhile, some incineration opponents are trying to make headway with lawsuits they filed to try to stop the burning.

"We're trying to work cooperatively with the Department of Justice to ensure that the Army will not start up the facility until there's a conclusion to the legal proceedings," said Lois Kleffman, spokeswoman for Kentucky Environmental Foundation.

The organization plans to notify the Justice Department today that it will ask for a temporary restraining order to stop the incinerator if an agreement is not reached.

Representatives from the international Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are scheduled to arrive in Anniston next week. They will make sure that the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention are carried out, Abrams said.

As treaty signatory, the United States must destroy its stockpile of chemical weapons by 2007, although it would be possible to obtain a five-year extension.

The treaty organization has already installed several surveillance cameras in the Anniston facility, to help in its constant monitoring.

Staffers from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management will also be on hand.

"We plan to be there 24/7," said Stephen Cobb, head of the governmental hazardous waste branch at ADEM.

ADEM has not yet approved the Army's trial burn plans, which spell out how the incinerator will begin operations.

The incinerator would not start at full speed, but with a slow ramp-up period called a "shakedown." Only after the facility was up to operating speed would it begin the trial burns, with detailed testing taking place. The facility would slow down again while ADEM reviewed the test data to make sure everything was running as planned. Then it would allow regular operations.

ADEM must give Gov. Bob Riley 10 days' notice before issuing the trial burn permit. Cobb would not say when the trial burn permit might be issued.

"I'm not going to try to looking into that crystal ball right now," he said. He said he did not know whether the public would be notified.

"Generally that just goes to Riley's office," Cobb said.

The Army has asked Gov. Bob Riley to sign off on its plan for interim operations, which calls for burning to begin before certain community protection measures are complete.

Legally, the governor's approval is not needed, but if Riley objects to the plan, he can "strongly urge ADEM to not issue the permit," according to Riley Spokesman Pepper Bryars. "He doesn't sign the permit, but ADEM would listen to the governor. Where he doesn't have power, he has influence."

Barring a major change in the nation's security status, Abrams said, he plans to have public meetings in each of the six counties around the incinerator before it starts up, "to talk about when we're going to do it and how we're going to do it." The workforce is ready to begin burning rockets filled with nerve agent, he said.

"All we can do is be prepared to begin operations the moment everything converges," he said.