Anniston Star
August 10, 2003

Process begins with little fanfare

By Nathan Solheim
Star Staff Writer
08-10-2003

BYNUM

It went slowly and without a glitch. And, despite some predictions, quietly.

The first of the thousands of M55 rockets filled with GB nerve agent built at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in the 1950s was destroyed Saturday morning in a process the Army project manager called flawless.

There were no large-scale protests near the chemical stockpile’s Morrisville Road Gate or at the main gate in Bynum.

Life went on outside the gate, nearly oblivious to the fact that a furnace burning at 1,100 degrees was incinerating a Cold War-era rocket with a range of about six miles.

There were yard sales in Wellborn and a vegetable stand was open for business at the corner of Bynum-Leatherwood Road and Alabama 202. People washed their cars on the main drag in Bynum and at least one homeowner braved the heat to mow his lawn along Morrisville Road.

And now, Calhoun County is one small step closer to ridding itself of 2,254 tons of chemical weapons stored in igloos at the Anniston Army Depot, said Tim Garrett, the project manager for the Anniston Chemical Demiliterization Facility.

“No surprises,” Garrett replied when asked if he saw anything that concerned him during the incinerator’s first operation.

Garrett earlier described the process as “flawless” and termed the workers who performed the procedure “marvelous.”

It was a contrast to the exhibitive glee of Mike Abrams, the Army spokesman, who compared Saturday morning’s developments to giving birth.

The entire chemical weapons disposal process is to take about seven years, Garrett said. Over that time, the Army first will dispose of GB, also called sarin, then move on to VX nerve agent and end with Mustard gas. The Army will destroy rockets, artillery shells, mortar rounds, land mines and a few one-ton containers filled exclusively with agent.

“Some people might think I’m being flip,” Abrams told a crowd of local and national media. “But we’re part of the solution.”

Each M55 rocket contains about 1.5 gallons of sarin, which will be drained and stored for later destruction, probably in about one month.

For now, the Army will only burn the batches of drained-out nerve agent after school hours. It will burn the mostly-empty munitions throughout the day.

Today, the Army plans to burn eight rockets. It will then move up to five an hour, then 12 an hour, all the way up to 40 every hour.

The process eventually will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

But for now, Army and Westinghouse officials are taking things slowly.

Bob Love, the project manager for Westinghouse, who also oversaw incineration operations on Johnston Island, said the startup went smoothly.

“There’s a lot of things that can go wrong,” Love said. “I’ve been through startups that had a lot of problems, but this went well.”

Agent trial burns are expected to take place in October or November, Abrams said. Army officials will take samples of emissions and waste and scrutinize them for traces of nerve agent.

The Army will not begin destroying leaking rockets until at least January.

But Rufus Kinney is scared, he said, and thinks there will be a big accident someday. Kinney showed up for a one-man protest outside the incinerator gate in an attempt to provide an alternate voice to what he called an Army dog-and-pony show for the media.

Reached later for comment, Kinney said the government has not lived up to its obligation to provide maximum protection to the public and likened the startup to the Titanic leaving port without enough life boats.

“Kentucky and Colorado have the same kind of stockpiles we do, the difference is, they’re going to dispose of those weapons with low-temperature, low pressure and no poisonous emissions,” Kinney said. “And how many lawsuits are pending there? Zero. And nobody is asking for gas masks or suits because they know the method of destruction provides the maximum protection.”

Kinney was referring to two stockpiles that have neutralization facilities.

Kinney and other anti-incineration groups plan to hold a rally in Anniston Aug. 16 to protest the chemical weapons incinerator.

Anniston Mayor Chip Howell, in Chicago for a conference, said the community is a little safer Saturday than it was Friday.

“I know it’s been an emotional issue for a lot of people and it’s one that has been very challenging for the community to come to grips with,” Howell said. “I’m pleased the process has started.”