FIRE PROBE, CLEANUP DELAY ARSENAL INCINERATION

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Chemical weapons incineration has been delayed while Pine Bluff Arsenal officials investigate a fire discovered early Sunday morning in the disposal facility's explosive containment room.

According to Arsenal officials, a control room operator saw smoke and a small flame in the room at 12:48 a.m. It was located in the area adjacent to the feed gate for the deactivation furnace. The operator noticed the fire while conducting routine checks of the remotely controlled rocket handling system.

No rockets were being processed at the time and officials said there was no release of chemical agent or danger to the public. The fire lasted 40 seconds, activating automatic detection and response systems.

Randy Long, site manager for the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, said the ignition of residual material contained in the feed gate drain pan was preliminarily identified as the "most likely cause of the event."

Operations are expected to resume as early as Wednesday.

"It could be a little later than that, it could be a little sooner," Raini Wright, public affairs officer for the facility, said Monday. "We have to assess what happened."

In addition to an investigation of what happened and how, Wright said measures currently being taken include cleaning up the area that was affected by the smoke and flames, testing of equipment and a review of operational procedures.

"Those things will take a few days," she said.

The facility has disposed of rockets on only two days so far this month, on July 6 and 7. It has incinerated chemical agents on July 1, 7 and 8.

Wright said there has been no processing of rockets or agent since July 11.

In addition to Sunday's fire, the decrease in weapons disposal this month also has been attributed to routine maintenance activities.

For five days, rockets weren't processed while the facility conducted agent trial burns to measure the environmental performance of the deactivation furnace. For another three days, operations were halted to conduct maintenance on the heated discharge conveyer, the area where rocket debris is placed after exiting the deactivation furnace.

Wright said Sunday's fire did not involve the heated discharge conveyer.

For another two days, disposal was stopped to conduct personnel training after the discovery of a "badge procedure error."

"That's another situation that is under review," Wright said. "We had a situation in which badges were not properly used, and that's about as much as I can tell you at this point."

Asked if the slower rate of production could have a long-term impact on the project, Wright said it was too early to tell, but emphasized that routine maintenance and personnel training are "planned for and expected."

"That is not unusual for this type of operation," she said.

The Army has assembled a task force to investigate five fires that have occurred while processing rockets in April and May. Fires ignited at the Umatilla Chemical Depot on April 7 and 23 and May 18, while fires at Pine Bluff's facility occurred May 11 and 22.

Wright also could not say whether the facility would meet its original target completion date of 2010. An international treaty has set a 2012 deadline for destroying the weapons.

The facility operates with two crews, one that works a 12-hour day shift and one that works a 12-hour night shift.

The Arsenal is charged with disposing of 12 percent, 3,850 tons, of the U.S. Army's original chemical weapons stockpile. The inventory includes M55 rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin, which are currently being processed, VX rockets, VX land mines and bulk containers of mustard blister agents.