Anniston Star
August 9, 2003

Project manager: Rocket incineration went 'flawlessly'

By Nathan Solheim
Star Staff Writer
08-09-2003, 11:52 a.m.

BYNUM

The incineration of the first M55 rocket at Anniston Army Depot went "flawlessly," and "the workforce performed marvelously," said Tim Garrett, Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility project manager.

The M55 rocket filled with GB nerve agent was drained and put into the deactivation furnace at about 9:30 a.m. The process took about 45 minutes.

From a media center set up outside the facility, reporters were able to watch the process on closed-circuit televison. The six-and-a-half-foot rocket was moved from its storage igloo and put onto a conveyor belt at 9:30 a.m. A vent was punched into the top side of the rocket, and two drain holes were punched into the bottom side. After the GB nerve agent had drained from the rocket, it was cut into eight sections and dropped into the deactivation furnace. Incineration was complete at 10:16 a.m.

The response in the control room was professional and subdued, with some handshakes and smiles, but no cheering.

"It's a great day for the Anniston community and for the people of Alabama," Garrett said.

Bob Love, Westinghouse project manager, said as far as startups go, everything went smoothly. Love, who also managed the chemical weapons incinerator at Johnston Island for Westinghouse, said, "I've watched 55,000 GB rockets destroyed, so I'm probably not as excited as everone else."

Army and Westinghouse officials are performing the assessment of the operation and said they may process another rocket today. They plan to process eight rockets on Sunday, all GB-filled M55s.

The Army also plans to burn some old non-chemical ordnance in a pit on another part of the Depot today. The fire will produce smoke, but it is not associated with the incinerator.

The deactivation furnace, one of three furnaces at the facility, burns drained rockets. The liquids furnace burns the chemical agents, and the metal parts furnace burns mortar rounds and artillery shells. Only the deactivation furnace was activated today, according to Army spokesman Mike Abrams.

The liquid furnace will be activated when 500 pounds of agent is ready to be burned, Abrams said. Until then, the agent will be stored in 600-gallon or 1,300-gallon double-lined tanks inside the facility.

Abrams said the first liquid GB agent, also known as sarin, would be incinerated in about four weeks.