Anniston Star
September 10, 2003

Incinerator down with conveyor problems

By Sara Clemence
Star Staff Writer
09-10-2003

The Anniston chemical weapons incinerator stopped destroying nerve agent-filled rockets Tuesday morning and could be down for several days because of a problem with a conveyor system.

The conveyor that carries rocket parts from a furnace to waste bins appeared to jam around 9 a.m., said Mike Abrams, spokesman for the Anniston Chemical Weapons Disposal Facility.

The rocket feed was automatically cut off, he said.

“We won’t know what the problem is until the system has cooled down to a temperature that is safe for employees to enter wearing the appropriate safety gear,” Abrams said.

Abrams said the problem did not pose any threat to worker or community safety.

Incineration opponents said the problem is part of a trend.

“[Army officials] have sought to reassure the community that this facility will not experience problems that have been experienced at other facilities. That doesn’t seem to be the case,” said Craig Williams, execute director of the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group.

The conveyor is heated to about 1,000 degrees to destroy any nerve agent that could remain after the pieces go through the furnace.

After the rocket feed was halted Tuesday, “the furnace and the discharge chute were kept at temperature for a period of time to ensure that there was in fact complete incineration of the material inside,” Abrams said.

The incinerator was built to destroy the 2,253 tons of chemical weapons stored at the Anniston Army Depot. The stockpile includes munitions filled with GB nerve agent (sarin), VX nerve agent, and mustard agent.

The facility began operations Aug. 9, destroying M55 rockets filled with sarin.

The incinerator has paused several times since then, for reasons that include maintenance issues and a series of false alarms.

Incineration opponents said they were pleased, at least, that the facility was allowing things to cool off before sending workers in.

“It’s what they should be doing,” said Mick Harrison, an attorney for Chemical Weapons Working Group and several local anti-incineration groups.

Harrison said other facilities haven’t always taken such safety precautions, “because they’re in such a hurry.” At the Army’s chemical weapons incinerator in Utah, workers have been put at risk more than once by being sent into an area that had not yet cooled, he said.