ADEM cites incinerator for 10 violations

By Rob Jordan
Star Staff Writer
08-28-2004

State regulators have cited the Anniston chemical weapons incinerator for 10 operating violations, according to Army officials. The violations, announced Friday, involve failures to follow procedures, inadequate equipment maintenance and improper handling of waste materials between April and June. Officials with the Army and its contractor, Westinghouse Anniston, reported four of the violations to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, according to Army spokesman Mike Abrams. Two of the violations involved an April trial burn of so-called gelled rockets filled with sarin, in which incinerator workers mistakenly monitored emissions with a device unapproved by ADEM. Other violations included acid and base waste drums placed too close together, waste bins that were not emptied as required, improperly calibrated equipment, a broken gasket, cracked concrete and spilled brine, all in the main furnace’s pollution abatement system area. Nine of the violations have been resolved, Abrams said. The Army also announced Friday that operations at the incinerator had emptied 18 of the Anniston chemical stockpile’s 155 storage igloos. The latest empty igloo had been the source, for more than 20 years, of most of the leaking rockets found at the stockpile.

About Rob Jordan

Rob Jordan covers criminal justice issues for The Star.