Sarasota Herald-Tribune
June 6, 2006

July startup planned for Alabama nerve agent incinerator

By JAY REEVES
Associated Press Writer

The Army said Friday it wants to begin next month destroying more than 2,200 tons of nerve agents stored in east Alabama, but court action and safety concerns could prompt a delay.

The planned startup of the massive incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot comes amid two lawsuits filed by opponents and unresolved questions about safety precautions linked to the $1 billion program.

At issue is when - and if - the military can begin burning deadly Cold War munitions stored for decades in dirt-covered concrete bunkers about 60 miles east of Birmingham, Alabama's largest city.

About 75,000 people live within 10 miles of the depot, which holds 2,254 tons of weapons loaded with nerve and blister agents, or about 7 percent of the nation's chemical stockpile.

Incineration could begin at Anniston as early as July 4, according to a letter the Army sent to the White House on Wednesday. The actual target date is a little later, according to incinerator spokesman Mike Abrams.

"We would like to start early to mid-July at the latest," said Abrams, declining to be more specific.

But opponents who have filed lawsuits in Birmingham and Washington, D.C., plan to ask a court to block the opening of the incinerator, said Craig Williams, executive director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group.

"That is something we are drafting at this moment," he said.

One suit contends the military should scrap incineration and neutralize the agents chemically. The other claims minorities would be unfairly endangered by the incinerator, located in an area that is disproportionately black compared to Alabama's population.

Also, Gov. Bob Riley and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., have yet to sign off on a plan to let the facility begin operation without all planned community safety measures in place.

Not all the schools nearest the incinerator have been equipped with special systems to keep out gas during an accident, and a warning system remains incomplete. Shelby also has requested plans for protecting and evacuating some 3,000 elderly, sick or handicapped people in the area.

In separate statements, Riley, Shelby and commissioners in Calhoun County said they wouldn't support operating the incinerator without all needed safety precautions. But finishing that work shouldn't take long, said an aide to the governor.

"We feel they can adequately satisfy our safety concerns and start operations without any significant delay," said Riley spokesman Pepper Bryars.

Riley's predecessor, Don Siegelman, sued last year to block the opening of the incinerator. The suit was withdrawn after the federal government provided millions for safety measures including gas mask-like breathing hoods for thousands of residents.

The United States has agreed under an international treaty to destroy 31,000 tons of chemical weapons by 2007. Roughly 25 percent of the stockpile has been destroyed at incinerators in Utah and on a tiny atoll in the Pacific.

The National Research Council concluded in December that chemical weapons could be safely incinerated despite chemical releases and violations at the two operational incinerators.

Opponents contend the Army hasn't fully disclosed all problems with the incinerators.