NBC-13 (Alabama)
May 19, 2003

Army Offers Plan To Begin Incineration In June
Officials Say Stockpile Becoming More Hazardous

POSTED: 10:07 a.m. CDT May 19, 2003
UPDATED: 10:08 a.m. CDT May 19, 2003

ANNISTON, Ala. -- The Army presented Calhoun County officials with a plan to begin limited operations at the Anniston Army Depot chemical weapons incinerator by late June.

Army officials met with county leaders Friday, hoping to reach an agreement to begin destroying 2,254 tons of Cold War-era weapons including blister and nerve agent, said Tim Garrett, project manager for the Anniston incinerator.

Proposed limitations on the first operations include:

moving munitions only during daylight hours, when it is safest;

draining agent from rockets and destroying the weapons, but waiting several weeks before burning the agent;

burning the live agent on weekends or at night, when people are more likely to be home, and with prior notification to local emergency management officials;

burning only four or five rockets per hour, one-tenth of the facility's capacity;

trying not to burn rockets that can't be drained because the agent has gelled.

The Army said the incinerator needs to start up because the stockpile is getting more hazardous with time and costs $300,000 a day to maintain. Garrett said officials worry that funding for the facility could be cut off.

"Quite frankly, we're not getting the return on our tax dollars that we should be getting." Garrett said.

County Commissioner Robert Downing said he had not heard about the proposal until Friday and wanted more time to review it. Louis Higgins, superintendent for Oxford City Schools, called the meeting "positive."

"It lays down some direction for all of us," he said.