New York Times
July 11, 2002

Army to Speed Up Weapons Destruction
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 10:16 p.m. ET

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- The Army plans to destroy Cold War chemicals at an unprecidented pace at its new Alabama incinerator starting in October, an Army spokesman said Thursday.

The Anniston Army Depot incinerator could destroy the chopped-up rockets containing hardened sarin gas at a rate up to 34 per hour, said incinerator spokesman Mike Abrams. The weapons had been destroyed at a rate of up to one per hour at Anniston's predecessor facility in Tooele, Utah.

The Army set a tentative date to begin the incineration of rockets held in storage in Anniston for Oct. 11, Abrams said. State regulators have already approved the plan, but also will consider public comment before giving the Army the final go-ahead.

Critics said the process is dangerous enough without pushing the incinerator to untested limits.

``This incinerator will have accidents, it will have agent releases. History shows us that,'' said Brenda Lindell, a founding member of Families Concerned About Nerve Gas Incineration. ``You don't know what they're putting on the people. This is ludicrous.''

Abrams said the Army would not try to destroy the rockets unless it had proof the process was safe from tests using industrial cleaning chemicals that are harder to destroy than nerve agents.

Just because no incinerator has destroyed chemical weapons at this speed doesn't mean it can't be done, he said.

``The speedometer on your car may only go up to 60 miles an hour. But your car is capable of doing more than we give it credit for,'' Abrams said.

He also said the Army would burn the rockets at only a few per hour initially, building up speed if tests show the process is safe.

An estimated 12,000 to 13,000 M55 rockets contain hardened sarin gas, also called GB gas.

In these rockets, the liquid nerve agent has gelled into rock-hard crystal, which is impossible to drain, Abrams said. Those rockets would be chopped up with the gelled sarin gas inside and burned in a furnace that was not designed to destroy rockets in such a manner.

In all, there are about 661,000 rockets, land mines, artillery shells and bulk containers at the base.

Incinerator opponents include Gov. Don Siegelman, who has sued to stop the incinerator from coming online until the government guarantees residents' safety. He has asked for safety precautions that include giving protective hoods to residents.