Sky News (UK)
July 31, 2003

FEARS OVER WMD DISPOSAL

For 40 years the people of Anniston, Alabama, have lived with the knowledge that the US Army depot in their town contains a deadly arsenal of chemical weapons, writes Sky's US correspondent Ian Woods.

The base houses more than 2,200 tons of some of the nastiest weapons ever made, including shells, rockets and even landmines filled with Sarin, VX and mustard gas.

These poisons, which attack the nervous system or blister the skin, are relics from the Cold War which the United States never had to use on the battlefield, and which have been kept in storage.

And Anniston holds just 7% of America's total stockpile of chemical weapons.

Precautions

Finally, they're about to be destroyed. But that has ignited a debate and put around 60,000 people on alert.

The method chosen for destruction is incineration. It's been used before in remote locations such as Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean and the Utah desert. But it's never been attempted in a populated area.

The Army insists the incinerator is safe. The munitions will be drained of their deadly contents, chopped up, and fed into the flames. It's what comes out of the smokestack that worries critics.

Army experts acknowledge that tiny traces of cancer-causing agents could be released, but say it's the equivalent of smoking less than one packet of cigarettes per year.

While some people worry about the day-to-day incineration, the major concern is the potential for a catastrophic accident.

The Federal Emergency Response Agency has spent almost £90m on precautions.
The 20,000 people who live within a nine-mile radius of the depot are given an air filter to put in a designated safe room in their house, and every member of their family is issued with a clear plastic ventilated hood. The battery-powered filter lasts around four hours.

Around 40,000 other people who live slightly further away have to rely on a kit containing plastic sheeting and tape to seal up one room.

It's far from perfect. If and when one of the nearly 100 sirens in the area sounds an alert, critics wonder what happens to those who aren't at home, or who are simply visitors to the town.

Schools have been equipped with pressurised rooms to keep out poison gases, but there are no provisions for shops and offices.

Denise Davenport and her eight-year-old daughter Carmani spent more than an hour being lectured on what to do in an emergency, before getting the chance to practise putting on their protective hood.

And while unhappy about the threat, she was grateful for the reassurance. "I'm glad we're getting all this equipment, and can be prepared for it, because anything can happen," she said.

Special hoods are available for infants under three, although parents who frequently warn children about the dangers of plastic bags, may find it an unsettling experience to be putting one over their babies head, even though the integral fan blows fresh air.

Brenda Lindell from Anniston is a member of Families Concerned About Nerve Gas Incineration.

She's been campaigning for the Army to adopt a Chemical Neutralisation method which is to be used at four other sites in the United States where weapons are stored.

Alternatives

"I think it is tragic that we have these chemical weapons here in our own country, and our government is handing out hoods to protect our own citizens from a process that it is using, and puts our own citizens at risk," she said.

Mrs Lindell argues that alternative methods of disposal should be considered, and there is no need to rush through the incineration plan.

The Army argues that incineration is tried and tested, and says time is a factor.

"The stockpile, particularly the M55 rockets do have a tendency to leak, and that's an indication that the stockpile is ageing, and quite frankly needs to be destroyed," said chemical disposal official Tim Garrett.

That causes indignation among critics, who for many years have been reassured that the storage was safe.

But Mr Garrett insists the incineration process is as risk-free as possible.

"I can't fathom a problem that would have an impact on the community but there's nothing wrong with taking additional safety precautions," he explained.

The Pentagon is set to give the go-ahead for the incinerator to be fired up in the next week or so - but it won't be a quick-fix solution.

Officials believe it will take seven years to complete the work. Opponents predict it will be more like 10 to 12 years. And throughout that time the people of Anniston must learn to live with the threat.