Anniston Star
October 7, 2003

Incinerator passes inspection

By Ben Cunningham
Star Staff Writer
10-07-2003

The Anniston Army Depot’s chemical weapons incinerator passed an Army team’s recent inspection with "flying colors," officials said Monday.

A team from the Army inspector general’s office left Anniston Sept. 26 after spending a week reviewing operations at the incinerator, said Mike Abrams, spokesman for the Army’s Anniston Chemical Disposal Facility.

Abrams said the inspection team lauded incinerator officials for their performance in a briefing before their departure. No major findings were reported in the briefing. A full written report of the inspection will be released in coming months.

The Army performs a Chemical Surety Inspection at all of its chemical weapons storage and disposal sites about every 18 months, Abrams said. This was the first such inspection conducted in Anniston since the incinerator began destroying weapons in August.

"We demonstrated that we can operate within all of the parameters and all of the restrictions of Army chemical regulations," Abrams said.

Officials planned to formally announce the results of the inspection today, said Donavan Mager, a spokesman for Westinghouse, the company that operates the incinerator:

"We definitely did very well."