Wednesday, Army officials said they received clearance from the Pentagon for daytime operations after confirmation that all Anniston-area schools are prepared for emergencies.

They had been limiting their work during school hours. But dozens of schools in Calhoun and Talladega counties have been fitted with special filters or pressurized rooms to provide students a safe place in case of an emergency from the chemical weapons stockpile at the Anniston Army Depot.

"We feel comfortable with what's been done by the Army, and they have met their commitment," said Jacky Sparks, superintendent of Calhoun County School System.

Within 12 miles of the incinerator, public and private schools have been fitted with special filters to remove chemicals from the air students breathe. They also were given pressurized rooms, where the air from the outside cannot reach students. A few more distant schools also have received the special filters.

Calhoun County students have both announced and unannounced drills and students know how to behave during an emergency, Sparks said.

When the Army began dismantling and destroying nerve gas weapons in early August, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., asked the Army not to move weapons or burn nerve gas during school hours until emergency preparations were complete at all area schools.

As a result, the Army burned only drained weapons during the day. It operated its liquid sarin incinerator on weekends and nights. Weapons were moved only after 4:30 p.m. but before dark on school days.

A spokeswoman for Shelby said the Alabama Republican spoke to the acting secretary of the Army this week and was assured that Anniston-area schools are ready for a chemical emergency.

Army officials say they must begin operating full-speed so they can prove to regulators that they are capable of safely burning 40 rockets per hour during their November test burn. The Army has 720 hours to operate in a slow "shakedown" mode before it must undergo rigorous hazardous air pollution tests to show it is destroying 99.9999 percent of the sarin that comes through the incinerator.

"We can't deliver as many rockets as we need - safely and efficiently - with just an hour or two of daylight in the afternoon," said Army spokesman Mike Abrams. "We can't demonstrate the capacity of the system burning just at night, delivering on weekends."

The Army plans to spend most of the next decade destroying a stockpile of more than 661,539 aging chemical weapons that have been stored at the depot. By most recent count, 5,186 M55 rockets have been destroyed.