Anniston Star
September 21, 2002

Army agrees to repeat incinerator tests; stockpile destruction start set back

By Matthew Creamer
Star Staff Writer

The destruction of Anniston's stockpile of nerve agent-filled rockets, originally scheduled to begin in late October, will be delayed because of additional testing required by environmental regulators.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has demanded that the Army repeat part of a series of test burns it conducted in March on surrogate materials. The results of those tests were deemed inconclusive by ADEM last month because of what the department called faulty practices at the laboratory hired to analyze the test data.

These tests will take place in two weeks, according to an Army press release, but a new start date for agent operations has not been made public.

"We're having to restructure the schedule," said Army spokesman Mike Abrams. "And we don't know what the new operational date might be."

Gov. Don Siegelman hailed the announcement, calling it "the right decision."

ADEM's approval of the surrogate trial burns, which are designed to demonstrate the facility's ability to burn compounds more difficult to destroy than the nerve agent, is needed before tests on actual agents begin.