“This technology,” explained Pete Conroy, director of the JSU Environmental Policy and Information Center, “has been cited by the National Research Council numerous times as a monitoring system that could operate continuously and have a response time on the order of 10 seconds or less and Fourier Transform Infrared multipass absorption technique which should be capable of real-time detection of high agent release levels.”
Conroy insisted that no one was suggesting this monitoring system be employed as opposed to the detection system currently, but rather alongside each other. It was compared to advances in automobile safety over the past few years. Initially, seat belts were utilized as the primary means of safety in an automobile. When air bags came along, they did not make the seat belts obsolete or replace them, but rather served as an added safety net in the event of an accident.
“Our only interest here,” explained R.D. Downing, Calhoun County commissioner, “is the safety of the people of Calhoun County. It is our job to see to it that the best level of safety is provided for the citizens of this county.
“Utilizing this air monitoring program can tell us what, if anything, might be coming out of the facility, the stacks and the igloos. That is important information to us and to the public we serve. In the end, it is our responsibility to give the public the best way of monitoring the chemical demilitarization program.”
Dr. Brent Olive, a professor at the University of North Alabama who has had extensive experience in using these particular monitoring systems, led the presentation, seeking to educate the public in regards to their options where the monitoring of the chemical demilitarization program is concerned. Olive spent time as a weapons inspector for the United Nations’ Special Commission on Iraq, where he was employed as a field analytical chemist. The Op-FTIR system was in place during his stay in Iraq.
“Air pollutants and toxic compounds cause a significant hazard to the public,” noted a statement released by the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command. “The Open-path FTIR Spectrometer can identify such toxic compounds. FTIR uses light energy through an infrared spectrum to perform atmospheric monitoring, and discover what compounds, and in what concentrations, are in the environment for an air analysis. A beam of infrared light is shot through a telescope-type instrument at a ‘corner cube’ reflector mirror which allows for the monitoring and analysis of atmospheric pollutants over a distance of 400 meters. An air quality study can be conducted without the limitations in time and scope of manually performing the analysis. FTIR is a valuable tool with many potential commercial applications.”
During his demonstration, Olive noted the advantages of utilizing this method in monitoring sites such as the Army’s chemical weapons incinerator in Anniston. He explained that the biggest benefit from this procedure lies in the area of personnel safety. Since the equipment can be placed at great distances away from the site, there is no need to enter the contaminated zone to collect samples leading to zero contact with the air sample. This, in turn, allows for a more accurate reading. This technology can cover a much larger area than a point sampler (the technology currently in use at the incineration facility). It can reach inaccessible areas allowing for a greater chance that no agents will escape detection. Finally, and perhaps the most interesting advantage of the technology is the fact that real-time results are obtained. With no down time waiting for lab results, actions to control the leak and evacuate residents, if necessary, can begin immediately upon making a reading.
While taking those in attendance through a myriad of examples obtained during his various trips where the technology was utilized, Olive held an actual monitoring demonstration in the room to further illustrate the machinery’s abilities. After setting up the machine and defining the area to be monitored, Olive sprayed a few small bursts of chemicals into the air. Immediately, the machine picked up on the chemicals released, logged and recorded them and keep track of them, while making readings around every five seconds, until they dissipated.
Olive summarized the findings uncovered at the various testing sites. It was observed that “the Op-FTIR is the only way to get complete, real-time air monitoring coverage for multiple gases.” The system has proven ideal fro both long-term and short-term gas releases, as well as virtually any environment.
“The technology,” explained Olive, “brings sophisticated laboratory analytical methods to the field.”
Despite what those who have dealt first-hand with this machinery have assessed, the system is not currently in use at any of the sites where the Army is destroying its stockpile of chemical weapons. Those in attendance questioned the intelligence of this lack of technology deployment, and no one could come forth to supply a viable answer, except to say the Army believes the monitoring process they have in place is adequate and sufficient to fully insure the safety of both workers and residents in the area.
With a cost of between $90,000 and $120,000 for the technology, and virtually no maintenance expenses after purchase, the possibility was mentioned of the county commission stepping in and purchasing one themselves, setting it up away from the facility and monitoring the readings on their own. The debate, along with the process of destroying the chemical weapons in Anniston, continues.