Birmingham News
August 13, 2003

Hydraulic fluid leak halts Army weapon burning

08/13/03
KATHERINE BOUMA
News staff writer

The Army's chemical weapons incinerator was shut down by a hydraulic fluid leak after processing only 10 rockets in two days of work over the weekend.

The Army had planned to destroy 40 M55 rockets Monday, the third day of the slow shakedown period to begin its $2.3 billion incinerator operation. Instead, the plant was closed before any rockets were destroyed so workers could change an O-ring on a hydraulic line leading to the blade that chops up rockets.

"There was a little bit of hydraulic fluid that did leak," said Army spokesman Mike Abrams. "It had nothing directly to do with the rockets, and it had nothing to do with agent."

The leak drained the hydraulic pressure to more than one piece of equipment, including the cutting blade to chop the rockets into pieces so they can be dropped into the fire.

Craig Williams, executive director of Chemical Weapons Working Group, said the leaks illustrates why his group had tried to delay opening of the incinerator.

Malfunctions of this sort are to be expected in the early days of any industrial operation, he said. "That's when the glitches show up," he said. "I think that other problems will surface in the very near future, which is one of the primary arguments that we were making about having the protective capabilities in place before operations begin."

Special filtration systems are expected to be installed in schools in the high-risk area around the incinerator by Oct. 1, and a plan for special needs people in the same area has yet to be written. Until those and other safety precautions were taken, opponents of incineration said it should not begin.

The Army began its slow shakedown period Saturday and applauded the incinerator complex's accurate work in moving, chopping and dropping a rocket into a burner. Air emissions tests will not be available until the incinerator reaches full speed after 720 hours of operation, when the state will test the air coming out of the stack.

The Army is using the incinerator to destroy a Cold War stockpile of more than 661,000 lethal weapons filled with sarin, VX and mustard.

The incinerator is expected to begin work again today, although operators were still assessing the operation late Tuesday and could decide to wait longer, a spokesman said.