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Local
News
Army
pitches changes to chemical weapons destruction plan
By Matt Kasper
Star Staff Writer
08-09-2006
A series of proposed changes to a state conservation
and recovery act will allow VX munitions disposal at the Anniston Chemical
Agent Disposal Facility to proceed with greater ease, the Army says.
ANCDF officials held a public meeting Tuesday evening
to answer questions about the changes at the Anniston Chemical Demilitarization
Community Outreach office.
Questions were hard to come by, however -- no area residents
attended the meeting.
"Even if these (adjustments) are smart and
pragmatic, they require a modification request," explained Tim Garrett,
site project manager for the disposal facility.
In total, five requests will be submitted to the
Alabama Department of Environmental Management ADEM.
ANCDF officials will accept public commentary about
the proposal for the next two weeks before submitting the requests.
One of the requests proposes changes to the facility's
waste analysis plan.
Regulations stipulate that decontaminated protective
suits and tools exposed to toxic material must be burned on-site at the
incinerator.
But Garrett said a modification would allow these
items to be transported to an off-site hazardous waste incinerator in a cargo
truck "just like any other hazardous waste."
"It's an extra burden on the plant besides
processing agents," Garrett said. "Processing agent is job number
one."
Another modification would allow destruction of the
facility's brine reduction area and a related pollution abatement system.
Garrett said the system is intended to treat corrosive
gases released from chemical agent, but an off-site sodium hydroxide system
works better and is more cost effective.
The remaining modifications allow moving waste from the
incinerator's metal parts furnace after a loss of furnace capabilities, and
provision allowing less-frequent changes of carbon canisters in the agent
collection system.
The canisters were changed monthly during the
destruction of GB nerve agent, he said, but VX and mustard agent are more
stable. Changing the box more frequently then necessary exposes workers to more
risk, he said.
Jim Martin, deputy site project manager, said the
final modification, to deactivate the furnace agent trial burn plan, will allow
VX mines to be processed at the same speed as rockets.
All the modifications have been approved by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After submitting the proposals, Garrett said he
expects to hear back from ADEM officials in a month or two.
The VX campaign is slated to be finished in late 2008,
with the last chemical munitions scheduled to be destroyed in late 2010.
About Matt Kasper
Matt
Kasper covers Jacksonville and Piedmont for The Star.
Contact Matt Kasper
Phone: 256-235-3546
Fax: 256-241-1991
E-mail: mkasper@annistonstar.com