Anniston Star
October 7, 2003

Incinerator containers are found

By Sara Clemence
Star Staff Writer
10-07-2003

Howard Carmac, left, and Titus Hess collect soil samples after two 55-gallon drums were found dumped near Choccolocco Creek.
Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star

Two 55-gallon drums from the Anniston chemical weapons incinerator were found dumped near Choccolocco Creek in Talladega County Monday.

The drums originally held bottled chemicals used in test burns, and had been sent, empty, to a local scrap-metal dealer for recycling, incinerator officials said. How the barrels ended up near U.S. 20 in Munford was a mystery Monday.

"There was an understanding that the drums were not supposed to be sold or distributed for any reason," said Donovan Mager, spokesman for Westinghouse Anniston.

The incinerator was built to destroy more than 661,000 pounds of chemical weapons stored at the Anniston Army Depot, and began operations in August.

Talladega County road workers found the black barrels, lids still on, on a high creek bank about 50 yards off Silver Run Road.

Markings on the drums indicated they were from the incinerator, so, at about 12:30 p.m., the workers called the Talladega County Emergency Management Agency.

The EMA notified the state environmental agency and Westinghouse Anniston, the contractor running the incinerator. By late afternoon, Westinghouse workers were on-site, taking soil samples around the barrels.

Westinghouse employee Jerry Stafford rolls one of the barrels found Monday near Choccolocco Creek in Talladega County.
Photo: Bill Wilson/The Anniston Star
The company’s workers confirmed that the drums came from the incinerator.

"We recognize our labels," said trial burn manager Sharla Barber.

The drums were heavily dented and slightly rusted, and rested near a rotting tree surrounded by discarded bottles and trash.

One drum held a small amount of liquid that Westinghouse workers said was harmless.

"I can tell you 99 percent sure it’s rainwater," said Titus Hess, of Westinghouse’s waste management department, who was working the scene. "They weren’t intended to be anything but scrap metal when they left the site."

The containers bore faded white labels reading "Empty" that were pasted on before the drums left the facility, Barber said.

"They also weren’t dented," she said.

A worker at the site took samples of soil on the bank, using plastic trowels to scrape some dirt out from under and around each drum, and shaking it into brown plastic sampling jars.

"Just to have evidence for the public," Barber said.

The drums were loaded into a pickup, to be taken back to the facility. The barrel that still contained some liquid will be opened and sampled today, said Jerry Stafford, who works in waste management for Westinghouse.

Mager said the drums were used to hold bottles of a surrogate chemical mixture used in trial burns earlier this year. There was a thick liner between the bottles and the drums, Mager said.

After the burns, the liners were removed and destroyed in the incinerator, the labels were painted over and the drums were sent off to a local scrap yard, Mager said.

Westinghouse will investigate how the barrels ended up where they did, he said.

"Obviously, there’s no harm to human health or the environment," he said. "We do want to run to the ground how … these drums made their way to the Munford area.

"They show up someplace they’re not supposed to be, somebody sees the label, and all of a sudden there’s a huge concern."