Gov. Don Siegelman has written President Bush saying he will not support the start of chemical weapons incineration in Anniston until all the safety precautions have been met.
The letter comes in the wake of a General Accounting Office report that said Calhoun County is not prepared for a chemical weapons accident at the Anniston Army Depot.
The report also spurred a press conference by the Calhoun County Commission to claim vindication in its fight with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army over the county's emergency preparedness plan.
Siegelman's letter was read at the press conference.
"Once again I write to express my deep concern regarding the Army's proposal to burn chemical weapons in Alabama and strongly urge you not to proceed until critical preparedness and safety issues have been resolved," Siegelman said.
But the risk to the community is from the stockpile, not the incinerator, according to Lt. Col. Bruce Williams, commander of the chemical weapons stockpile and the Army's emergency readiness.
"Walking into these igloos everyday, I believe that," Williams said.
This week, 12 depot workers were tested for exposure to the lethal nerve agent sarin after a half cup of the substance leaked from a rocket in a storage igloo. The workers tested negative.
"The problem is the stockpile," Williams said in response to the governor's letter. "And the incinerator is the ultimate solution to that problem."
The Calhoun County Commission held its press conference to publicize the findings of the GAO report. Surrounded by banners quoting from news accounts of the report, the commission said the findings vindicate their position.
The commission claims that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army have stonewalled and withheld funds and technical information.
The GAO report says three out of eight sites with chemical weapons stockpiles are woefully unprepared in the event of an accident and that FEMA must take a more proactive role in emergency preparedness for those communities.
FEMA officials said Thursday that they are already making progress. Dan Civis, head of the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program for FEMA, said he has requested funds to put a FEMA official in Calhoun County to act as a liaison.
FEMA is also close to sorting out the 24-hour staffing at the Calhoun County EMA in order to ensure round-the-clock coverage in the event of an accident, Civis said. He said FEMA also will use new nerve agent toxicity data to better define the so-called "pink zones." Pink zones are the areas immediately around the depot that are at greatest risk in the event of an accident. County and federal agencies have been unable to agree on the protective actions needed for those zones.
Calhoun County is currently sticking with evacuation although studies have said it is a practical impossibility.
Still at issue is sheltering-in-place, which calls for residents to barricade themselves in a room and seal the doors and windows with duct tape and plastic in the event of an accident.
The federal government recommends a combination of evacuation and sheltering-in-place. The county has not accepted sheltering-in-place as an option.
"I don't know how we'll get the commission to accept a balanced approach," Civis said.
Two weeks ago, Anna Johnson-Winegar, an assistant secretary of defense, visited Anniston to help set up a panel to "hit the same objectives that were identified by the GAO," Williams said.
That panel will meet in Anniston next Thursday to begin studying the county's preparedness problem.
