Conveyor belt problem delays incineration of final 12 sarin rockets

By Rob Jordan
Star Staff Writer
10-29-2004

Operations at the Anniston chemical incinerator remained at a standstill Thursday, almost a week after a mechanical problem delayed plans to finish destruction of the Anniston stockpile’s 12 remaining sarin-filled rockets. Workers have made several unsuccessful attempts to fix a conveyor system that was shut down Oct. 23 after parts of it were found to be structurally unsound, according to Tim Garrett, the Army’s site manager. Several parts of the device, which brings bins full of debris from one of the plant’s furnaces to a processing area, had expanded under high temperatures, causing the conveyor to malfunction. Operating for more than 400 days at temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees had taken a toll on the equipment, causing metal fatigue, said Army spokesman Mike Abrams. Repairs have proven difficult. Because workers re-weld parts after the conveyor system has cooled down, those parts can expand in unpredictable ways when the system is brought back up to full heat, Abrams said. If a final repair attempt fails today, workers will replace the entire conveyor system, a process that takes up to six days and costs about $250,000, Garrett said. Officials had planned to replace the conveyor after finishing destruction of sarin-filled M55 rockets, Garrett said. After the final load of rockets has been burned, incinerator workers will shift operations to handle agent-filled projectiles. In another development, Army officials have proposed to treat secondary waste on-site rather than ship it to a toxic landfill. The waste, known as brine, is a heavy-metals-laced byproduct of the facility’s pollution-abatement system. In an operating permit modification request sent to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management recently, Army officials proposed running the brine through an ionic filter and then disposing of it on-site, according to Garrett. Currently about 10,000 gallons of brine is shipped off-site everyday, Garrett said. Thursday, during a public hearing in Anniston, Garrett estimated on-site disposal would save the Army about $10 million during the life of the demilitarization project. There is no precedent for such a process at a demilitarization facility, Garrett said. The proposal awaits ADEM approval.

About Rob Jordan

Rob Jordan covers criminal justice issues for The Star.