Anniston Star
August 14, 2003

Incinerator restarts munitions burning

By Sara Clemence
Star Staff Writer
08-14-2003

The Anniston chemical weapons incinerator started up again Wednesday after being stalled for two days by maintenance issues.

The incinerator had processed nine M55 rockets filled with nerve agent by about 2:15 in the afternoon. That brought to 19 the total of such rockets processed since the facility started burning munitions Saturday. Workers processed more rockets Wednesday afternoon, but the numbers were not available by press time.

There were no problems, an official said.

“Today was a good day at the facility,” said Mike Abrams, spokesman for the Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility.

The incinerator had stopped temporarily because workers discovered a hydraulic fluid leak Monday morning during a pre-operations maintenance check. Then, Monday evening, there was a problem with a motor on the machinery that cools the exhaust filtration system. Both problems were fixed, Abrams said.

Abrams said there was no processing target for today. The facility has four work crews, and the third crew will be starting its first shift working with live agent.

“We will let the crew determine (the rate),” he said.

About 190 rockets are in the facility, awaiting processing. More than 661,000 munitions containing nerve and blister agent are stored in concrete bunkers at the depot. The Army plans to burn them in the $1 billion incinerator over the next several years.

Abrams said a worker who was training near the facility Wednesday was sickened by the day’s heat, and was treated at the on-site medical clinic.

“The employee was not a victim of chemical agent,” Abrams said. “It was simply a case where he was overcome by heat.”