Birmingham News
June 21, 2004

Rogers confident in Anniston detection system

MARY ORNDORFF
News Washington correspondent

WASHINGTON A move in Congress to improve the agent detection equipment at chemical weapons stockpile sites around the country has gained the support of both Alabama senators, but Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Anniston, opposes the idea.

A segment of the 2004 defense bill recommends the U.S. Army update the technology from "inefficient and outdated" to "newer and advanced" at all sites, including Anniston.

To make sure the provision remains in the bill during final negotiations, a Kentucky senator over the last few weeks sought the support of the Senate and House members with stockpiles in their home states or districts. Sen. Jim Bunning has said it would help protect the safety of the workers, the public and the environment.

While spokesmen for Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions said they were signing on, Rogers declined because he doesn't believe the current monitoring equipment is weak.

"Congressman Rogers believes that there is no problem with further research looking at different technologies for this or any other system, but he is uncomfortable with insinuating that the present system is inadequate or unsafe for the workforce," said Rogers' chief of staff, Rob Jesmer.

The amendment, which expresses the "sense of the Senate," is supported by a watchdog organization in Kentucky that opposes the incinerator method of destroying the obsolete weapons. The Chemical Weapons Working Group cited several years' worth of recommendations from the National Research Council that newer technology could reduce the response time to an alarm from 15 to 20 minutes to less than 10 seconds.

At issue are the Automated Chemical Agent Monitoring Systems, or ACAMS, which are monitors inside the incinerator facility that sound an alarm if any agent is detected in the open air.

The system is shut down, workers take precautions, and the air sample is taken to the lab and analyzed to determine if there is a danger, said Anniston incinerator spokesman Mike Abrams. He said the process could take 15 to 20 minutes, but the amount of agent required to sound the alarm is only one-fifth of the amount that could be considered dangerous to people in the area.

"The equipment we have is more than satisfactory for the mission we have," he said.

Speaking on behalf of only the Anniston facility, Abrams said officials oppose any move to change systems, especially because the incinerator is nearing a starting date.

"It would set us back an incredible amount of time we otherwise could be using to effectively reducing the present risk ... of continued storage of the weapons. The best way to serve the community is to operate this facility now and not be delayed for any reason," he said.

As an alternative, Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group points to a system that uses a beam of infrared light to monitor air quality.

An Army Web site says the Open-Path Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer can detect pollutants being emitted without the operator having to enter the "hot zone" and can assess the air almost immediately, without a manual analysis.

Bunning's letter to his colleagues notes that the assistant secretary of the Army supports his amendment.