The Army has found no chemical agent at 33 sites throughout Fort McClellan once used as chemical training sites, an internal investigation has concluded.
Based on the findings, the Army is recommending no further action at McClellan with regard to chemical warfare materials, or chemical agents.
Results of the investigation were presented to the public at a meeting Tuesday night at the Anniston City Meeting Center. Officials from the Army's transition force, the Base Re-Alignment and Closure Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers participated in the meeting.
"Based on looking at the places that were most likely to have (chemical agents), I would say with a high level of confidence that there are not chemical agents on the post," said Ronald Levy, environmental coordinator for the Base Re-Alignment and Closure Commission.
Army contractors chose the sites based on historical records from the installation and interviews with military personnel who served there.
They eliminated some sites based on their review of installation records, but tested 19 sites around the former fort for chemical agents including mustard gas, Sarin gas, nerve agent, blister agent and psychoactive compound.
Some sites that were tested are near such landmarks as Buckner Circle, the Auburn Canine Detection Training Center and Anniston's Youth Sports Complex.
Workers found no contamination from chemical agents in any of the 19 sites.
However, a complete sweep of the fort for chemical agents was not performed, because the technology is not available to detect chemical agents buried beneath the surface.
"We do feel from all of our studies, we captured all the sites that were used for chemical training," Levy said.
The Army isn't totally free of cleaning up the fort yet.
Should Army officials find a chemical agent that could be traced to the Army, the Army would be responsible for cleaning it up, officials said.
"If there was something found subsequent to transfer, our deed says the Army will come back and address the issue," Levy said. "It's always our responsibility to clean up contaminants associated with Army activity."
The Army's findings were met with a degree of skepticism from Charles Oxley, an Anniston resident who served seven years at Fort McClellan.
"They're looking at it as spills," Oxley said. "I'm looking at it as wars. Do you know how much stuff the Army gets rid of after a war? I'm not overly impressed. These are 33 sites out of 50 years of the Army."
Oxley said Army records are lacking because there's no accounting for the illegal dumping of chemical agents or materials by soldiers, or chemical agent sites from years ago.
The Army will continue studying the former fort's property and other public hearings will be held as part of upcoming Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis investigations.
Anniston Mayor Chip Howell said he saw nothing at the public hearing that made him uncomfortable.
"I think they've identified those sites and were methodical in their testing," Howell said. "It doesn't mean they're walking away; it just means no further action on the chemical sites. There's still unexploded ordnance and other metals that are still on the table."
