Anniston Star
August 7, 2002

Army will answer incinerator speed-up questions

By Matthew Creamer
Star Staff Writer

The Army will host an information session Thursday on schedule changes and new processes being considered at the chemical weapons incinerator.

The meeting is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. at the Anniston Community Outreach Office, 11 East 10th St.

Officials will answer questions about a plan to remove explosive parts from artillery shells before they are moved to the incinerator plant for destruction.

The shells then could be destroyed at the same time as M55 rockets, the first weapons slated to be to fed into the furnaces when the plant fires up later this year. This process, officials say, will speed up the destruction of the Anniston Army Depot's chemical stockpile even more than recent schedule changes the Army already is working to implement.

The work would be done in buildings constructed for a reconfiguration project that took place between 1995 and 2001. In that project, Army personnel removed artillery shells from boxes and tubes, placed them on pallets, and sent them back to storage.

This meeting is a prerequisite for requesting a major modification to the incinerator's state permit. Statements made by the public will be recorded by the Army and sent to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

The Army has not decided whether to seek a modification, a spokesman said.

"A formal risk assessment on weapons reconfiguration has not been done," said Mike Abrams, public affairs officer for the incinerator. "We expect to perform an inspection of the weapons to do an assessment on whether it can be safely done."

This is the first of several meetings and hearings related to Anniston's chemical weapons
scheduled during the next two months. ADEM will seek public input on the Army's agent trial burn plans in an Aug. 13 public meeting and a Sept. 3 public hearing. Both meetings will be at the Anniston City Meeting Center.