02/26/04

Workers at Anniston Army Depot donned protective masks Wednesday and unpacked and destroyed their first rocket that was leaking nerve gas, Army officials said.

The Army had not planned to begin destroying leaking weapons yet at its chemical weapons incinerator, although nearly 800 "leakers" are known to sit in storage igloos at the depot.

This week's leaker was not discovered until after workers had packed the sarin-loaded M55 rockets into specially sealed containers and trucked them from their storage bunkers to the incinerator Tuesday, a spokesman said.

As soon as workers discovered the low level of sarin gas inside the transport container, they cleared out of the area and did not come back until they had masks on, said Donavan Mager, a spokesman for Westinghouse Anniston, the contractor operating the incinerator for the Army.

"This is something expected to happen from time to time with these aging weapons, and this is a perfect example of how well practicing works," Mager said. "This is actually good news."

The weapons were left in their protective container until Wednesday afternoon, when two workers completely dressed in protective gear one-by-one placed all 14 rockets on incinerator conveyer belts, according to an Army statement. It wasn't clear whether one or more of the 14 weapons in the container were leaking, he said.

Craig Williams, executive director for the anti-burn group Chemical Weapons Working Group, said it appeared that Westinghouse properly handled the aging weapons.