Anniston Star, November 08, 2002

Spill of dilute sarin at depot lab said harmless

By Jason Landers
Star Staff Writer
11-08-2002

A drop of diluted sarin nerve agent spilled from a small vial Wednesday in a chemical laboratory at the Anniston chemical weapons incinerator.

Less than half a milliliter of "watered down" solution escaped from the container, according to an Army press release. A lethal dose of sarin is 14,000 times greater than what spilled from the vial.

The community and environment was never at risk, said Army spokesman Mike Abrams. Two workers were in the lab when the spill occurred.

An alarm sounded in the lab, and the employees immediately took steps to isolate the liquid,
Abrams said. They decontaminated with bleach the broken vial and the spot where the drop fell on the floor.

Neither employee was harmed by the exposure, Abrams said. The level of concentration in the spill was so small it posed no risk, he added. A blood analysis and an on-site medical examination confirmed they had not been contaminated.

Lab employees work with diluted nerve agent to test and calibrate the monitors that detect thechemical agent. The monitors measure the amount of contamination in an area.

Though the workers have been handling chemicals for several months, this is the first incident involving a spill, Abrams said. He said human error did not cause the accident. Rather, poor packaging may have caused it. He said a worker was lifting a plastic bag that contained the vials when a vial slipped through a hole in the bag.

Abrams said the incident had nothing to do with the performance of the incinerator - the Army's preferred technology for destroying the 2,254 tons of nerve and blister agent stockpiled at the depot.

Abrams said the accident involved a lab, not the actual incineration facility, and could have
happened anywhere "under any scenario, under any technology."

While the lab houses amounts of diluted agent, the incinerator contains none at this time. The facility is still in the testing phase and is not expected to start up until sometime in early 2003.

Abrams said the spill did not interfere with ongoing operations in preparation for startup.