Anniston Star
October 5, 2002

Depot workers question protection plans

By Jason Landers
Star Staff Writer

They work three miles away from some of the deadliest chemical weapons known to man, earning a wage in buildings where tanks are serviced and armored vehicles are built.

But when it comes to options for personal safety, workers at the Anniston Army Depot are miles behind a community that is preparing for the worst, a community that some officials have argued is not ready for an accident involving chemical weapons.

In the remote event that Murphy's Law prevails and sirens scream out a chemical incident, some depot workers say they wouldn't know what to do.

They are part of the 2,000 plus employees who work with steel and engines - not chemical
weapons - on the southeast industrial section of the depot.

One longtime employee summed up the preparedness of depot workers in two words: "We're not."

Army officials contend the employees are prepared, whether they realize it or not.

Unlike the surrounding community, most depot workers won't have the option of carrying a
protective hood, won't work in an overpressurized - airtight - facility or receive instructions on sheltering in place. The reason, say Army spokespeople, is that these protective measures aren't suitable for the industrial sites.

"Those of us at General Dynamics (one of the contractors at the depot) don't know anything," said one worker, who would only speak on condition of anonymity.

Fear of being handed a pink slip keeps many employees from speaking out, the worker said.

Within the last two weeks, a memo about depot preparedness surfaced. Written by Army officials and addressed to all General Dynamics "Land Star" employees, it describes how the depot, the Army and General Dynamics places employee safety at the top of their priority list.

The memo tells workers that a plan has been developed, approved and implemented that will protect "all Anniston Army Depot employees, tenants and visitors." It goes on to say that depending on the severity of an incident, workers may be instructed to shelter in place (an option that will be limited to only a few employees), relocate to another part of the depot, evacuate or remain at work.

But the memo offers little in the way of instruction or details.

"It says wait until something happens and maybe we'll tell you what to do," the employee said. "We have received no instructions on how to evacuate or shelter in place or what evacuation route to take."

The worker said the depot rarely informs employees when problems with chemical weapons arise. The worker said they typically learn about leaking rockets the day after an event when they read about it in the newspaper.

Evacuation is currently the only preparedness option available for most of the 4,000 employees working at the depot. Roads designated in blue or red mark the two evacuation routes.

Sue Turton, the depot safety director, said past evacuation drills demonstrated workers could drive out of harm's way in a timely manner.

More than a decade has lapsed, however, since workers participated in a drill, although Turton said a form of evacuation is practiced every day, when the final whistle blows sounding the end of a shift. At quitting time, employees come close to clearing the gates within 15 to 20 minutes, she said.

Workers tell another story.

"There is no way you could evacuate this place with all the people we have out here now. The roads won't support this many people. They (the roads) didn't 10 or 12 years ago, and they sure won't now," said an employee with more than 30 years of service.

This worker, too, would speak only on condition of anonymity. "Everybody thinks out here that we are expendable. That is the consensus out here," the worker said.

Once outside the depot, evacuating workers would receive instructions from the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency. EMA director Mike Burney said the depot's plan, which relies largely on evacuation, isn't complimentary with the county's plan, which emphasizes shelter-in-place for residents closest to the depot.

"In some cases, you won't have time to evacuate everyone," said Burney, who added that the
network of roads surrounding the depot are not designed to handle a massive exodus. He said there has been little communication between the depot and his office on the subject.

Concerns about the preparedness of depot workers have reached Washington.

In a letter Thursday to Under Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee, Congressman Bob Riley voices concerns that the safety of depot workers has been overlooked and asks the under secretary to describe what measures the Army plans to take to protect these employees.

"It's a strong point of concern for the congressman," said Dan Gans, Riley's chief of staff and press secretary. "We wouldn't have written that letter if we thought that evacuation was enough."

Changes are coming to the depot's preparedness plan, though evacuation and relocation remain the centerpiece.

Army officials say proposed amendments to the plan will include more safety options, renewed drills and increased efforts at better educating the work force.

"We are in the process of improving that plan to add some assembly areas for people to assemble and be given additional information as to what the circumstances are," Turton said. Head counts will be made at these assembly and alternate assembly areas, she said. Additionally, instructions on evacuation or relocation will be given.

In the Army's view, masks are not practical for the bulk of the depot work force - the exception being those employees who would respond to a chemical incident. Turton said most of the depot workers perform strenuous jobs and carrying a "bulky or clunky (mask) around with them would, in itself, present a hazard."

Overpressurization and shelter-in-place won't work at most work areas, she said, because the
industrial facilities - designed with ventilation in mind - are not amenable to these safety measures. There are a few limited sites at the depot where these techniques will be employed.

Workers at the chemical weapons incinerator will have access to airtight areas within that facility, Army officials said.

But the Emergency Operations Center, which would serve as command central in the unlikely event of a chemical accident, is not fitted with overpressurization. It sits 3.6 miles from the nearest igloo containing nerve agent or mustard. Officials said workers there will weather out an incident, as unlikely as one with a plume that could reach them would be, sheltered in place and wearing gas masks.

"Maybe the community needs to get the message that the people closest to it have the least concern that anything is going to happen," said Cathy Coleman, spokeswoman for the stockpile. She works in the administrative offices that house the Emergency Operations Center and said she carries a gas mask.

Coleman said the workers who worry least are those armed with the best information about the true risk the weapons. She said they are the employees who have daily contact with the stockpile and who would respond if an accident occurred.

"Although they are familiar with it, they are also the first ones to say we need to get rid of this stuff," Coleman said. "People don't think that we know what we are doing. They need to be reassured that we do as far as handling the munitions."

What the Army's knowledge about chemical weapons tells it, Coleman said, is that evacuation or relocation offers the safest option for the bulk of the depot's work force.

Spokespeople say the Army was mindful of the distance of industrial operations from the
stockpile, geography and prevailing winds when it developed its depot preparedness plan.
Industrial operations are 3.2 miles away from the nearest igloo containing chemical weapons. Based on normal prevailing winds, these operations, as well as the administrative offices, are upwind from the stockpile. And hills and foliage that would slow a chemical plume stand between these facilities and the chemical agents.

"With the distance, that gives us plenty of time (to evacuate) even if the wind was in the direction of our industrial operations," Turton said. " There is ample time to move those people from harm's way and allow them the means to leave, rather than hold them in a facility for an extended period of time."

While the Army plans to educate the depot work force soon about the preparedness options, its officials insist the safety measures in place will work whether workers are aware of them or not.

"If something were to happen right now, the core people, the emergency operations people, the instructions that would be put out, would be appropriate to ensure the safety of the workforce at the installation," Turton said. "Even though everyone on post doesn't know what instructions would be put out, the instructions would be simple enough that they would be able to follow them and be taken care of."