Drums found in Snow Creek: 55-gallon containers are from Anniston’s incinerator

By Nathan Solheim
Assistant Metro Editor
08-11-2004

State troopers found two 55-gallon drums from the Anniston chemical weapons incinerator along the banks of Snow Creek in Oxford on Tuesday morning. The drums were used to hold material incinerator workers used during a preliminary phase of operations called vermiculite, which controls oil spills or absorbs petroleum-based chemicals. Incinerator officials, however, could not say whether the drums were used to hold unused vermiculite or the residue left over after its application and said they would test about 11 gallons of water found inside the barrels for analysis. Several incinerator workers were called creekside, just a few yards away from the intersection of U.S. 78 and Alabama 21, and removed the drums. Army spokesman Mike Abrams said the drums posed no threat to humans or the environment. "There’s absolutely no reason to believe the community was threatened or the environment harmed by these barrels," Abrams said. Anniston Fire Department officials, who would respond to a hazardous materials accident, had no such calls Tuesday morning. This isn’t the first time drums from the incinerator have washed up along the area’s streams and rivers. In October of 2003, Talladega County road workers found two drums along Choccolocco Creek near Silver Run. After those barrels were found, Army officials revamped their policy for disposing of the drums. They are no longer sent out for recycling. Abrams could not draw a direct link between the drums found Tuesday and the ones found last October. "That is a logical conclusion, but I don’t know of that has been fully decided," Abrams said. "That would make sense, but I don’t know for a fact." News of the drums’ discovery reached the ears of Oxford Mayor Leon Smith, who told Oxford City Council members of the development during a meeting Tuesday night. While he was concerned about them floating into his town, Smith said he was kept abreast of the situation by upper management at the incinerator. "They knew where it was supposed to have been, they knew what was in it and knew that it had been cleaned out and had no chemicals," Smith said. "That’s good records." Vermiculite, which looks like mica and occurs naturally, has many other uses in potting soil, concrete and fire protection to name a few. It’s also approved by the United Nations for transporting hazardous materials, according to the Vermiculite Association Web site. Operations at the chemical weapons incinerator were not affected by the development. Staff Writer Charlotte Tubbs contributed to this story.

About Nathan Solheim

Assistant Metro Editor Nathan Solheim is Minnesota native and a University of Georgia graduate.