Anniston Star
August 10, 2002

Majority of residents comfortable with incineration, not with preparedness

By Matthew Creamer
Star Staff Writer

About 40 percent of respondents to a poll released by the state teachers' lobby Friday believe the chemical weapons incinerator should not start up until county schools are protected.

More than half of the respondents said no effective emergency plan is in place in Calhoun County, while about three-quarters supported recent legal efforts by Gov. Don Siegelman to secure federal funding for emergency measures.

The part of the survey dealing with chemical weapons issues, conducted by the research division of the Alabama Education Association, reflected the opinions of about 260 voters in Calhoun County.

The survey, one of several attempts in recent years to capture public opinion on this issue, treads new ground in its estimation of Siegelman's legal involvement. It follows previous surveys showing the public perceives deep faults in an emergency preparedness program riven by interagency sniping, and showing the public has a comparatively high comfort level with the technology chosen to destroy the weapons stockpile at the Anniston Army Depot.

Thirteen percent of respondents said they believe the incineration technology is safe. Sixty-two percent believe incineration is safer than storing the weapons - the Army's longtime justification for the program - and 13 percent believe the technology is unsafe.

"The issue is not the incinerator," said Gerald Johnson, director of the Capital Survey Research Center. "The real issue is the emergency plan, and the story there is great confusion, mistrust, misunderstanding and a lack of confidence."

A similar survey performed by Texas A&M students earlier this year found that half of 700 county residents polled supported the project. With fewer than 20 questions, some of which addressed broader political issues, the more recent AEA poll was significantly shorter and less detailed.

Johnson said his telephone survey, conducted between July 30 and Aug. 1, confirmed the results of the student work. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.8 percent.

The AEA, a powerful player in state politics, so far has had a bit part in the effort to secure federal funds for emergency preparedness in Calhoun County. In May, Paul Hubbert, executive secretary of the AEA, offered to join Siegelman's lawsuit seeking an injunction against the incinerator - a move one expert says compromised AEA's polling data.

"The AEA definitely has an ax to grind," said Lawson Veasey, head of the political science
department at Jacksonville State University. "Unless you have an independent group doing it, like the League of Women Voters or some think tank, it's probably worth a grain of salt."

Johnson said the center he directs is separate from the AEA and that he himself is not an
association employee. "We're just trying to measure sentiment," he said.

The survey also measured opinion on the congressional race between Auburn businessman Joe.Turnham and Anniston state Rep. Mike Rogers. In all, 502 voters in the congressional district, which stretches from Cherokee County to the city of Montgomery, were polled. Calhoun County.was represented disproportionately for an environmental survey that focused on chemical weapons.disposal.

About half of those polled believe that the county lacks an effective safety plan. One-third attribute this lack to "politics."

A Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency spokesman declined comment on the survey, saying, "In a county of more than 112,000 people, I don't believe polling 257 residents is an accurate reflection of the views and opinions of the county."

The release of the data follows hot on the heels of this week's announcement that schools up to eight miles from the depot, and possibly as far as 12 miles, will receive equipment that would make them airtight during a chemical leak. However, the project, expected to cost between $15 million and $25 million, isn't expected to be complete until 2004, while the incinerator could begin burning nerve agent as soon as October.

Since withdrawing the motion for injunction months ago, the Siegelman administration has not revealed how it could try to delay the startup.

"The governor leans toward not allowing them to move forward until the schools receive full
protection," said Ted Hosp, the governor's legal advisor. "There are a number of avenues he could take."

One possibility Hosp offered would be for the governor to get involved in upcoming decisions on permit modification requests to be made by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. He said future decisions will be based in part on discussions with local school officials.

However, their positions already appear to have crystallized. Calhoun County Schools
Superintendent Jacky Sparks said, "I would prefer that the burns are held up until our schools are protected. It's not our fault all this had to take so long."

Combining the responses of those who see the incinerator as a safer alternative than storage and those who see it as just plain safe, Army spokesman Mike Abrams sees a 75 percent approval rating for the incinerator that sits unhappily with the segment of respondents who want to hold up the program.

"Some of those 75 percent must have contradicted themselves," he said.

Said Johnson, "It's a separation of the issues. The general consensus is that the incinerator is the safest way to deal with the weapons. The hold-ups come from the sense that they need an emergency plan."