In the past two days, two high-level federal officials have made statements that raise questions about the Army program that has brought a chemical weapons incinerator to the Anniston Army Depot.In testimony before a Senate panel Wednesday, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh called into question his agency's role in the program designed to protect communities near the weapons stockpiles.
Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the program to destroy the nation's chemical weapons was "not on the right track" because of cost overruns.
These utterances came as Gov. Don Siegelman considers reinstating his legal efforts to delay the startup of Anniston's incinerator because of lingering disputes with FEMA.
Siegelman and Calhoun County's congressional delegation have demanded that the agency fund a number of safety measures, including protective respiratory hoods for residents near the depot, demanded by the local officials. FEMA, which administers the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program with the Army, has expressed safety concerns about distributing hoods to the public.
At a Senate subcommittee hearing, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, questioned FEMA Director Allbaugh on this impasse.
"The Army should have the entire program," Allbaugh told the Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee.
FEMA spokeswoman Mary Hudak was unwilling to elaborate on Allbaugh's remark, but said, "we continue to work with the state to provide the community with the best emergency preparedness possible."
Shelby put a positive spin on the remark.
"I was reassured today that FEMA Director Allbaugh understands and shares my concerns with the management and effectiveness of the CSEPP program," the senator said.
Rumsfeld's comment, too, was prompted by Shelby, who asked whether the chemical demilitarization program is on the right track.
The program, which must destroy the nation's chemical weapons stockpile by 2007 under the terms of an international treaty, recently had to be certified by the defense department because of cost overruns that violate the Nunn-McCurdy Law. This law requires any programs with a 25 percent cost increase to be certified.
"The program is in breach of Nunn-McCurdy, of course it's not on the right track," Rumsfeld said.
The program received an "ineffective" rating in the Bush administration's recent budget proposal because of cost overruns, schedule slippages and other issues. However, the program can be continued because it meets certain criteria, including its essentialness to national security.
The program currently operates an incinerator in Utah, has constructed two more, in Anniston and in Oregon, and is building one in Arkansas. Stockpiles in Kentucky and Colorado likely will be destroyed by a method other than incineration.
Completed last summer, the incinerator in Anniston is expected to undergo a second round of testing on surrogate material later this month. Test burning on lethal nerve agent is scheduled for September.
In February, lawyers for the Siegelman administration filed a lawsuit to obtain the demanded protective equipment and other safety measures. The administration asked for an injunction against the facility, but pulled back on the motion weeks later when it appeared FEMA would meet its demands.
The Calhoun County Commission recently asked the governor to revive the motion for injunction, an action Siegelman's aides say they are considering.
"This is definitely something we're looking into," said Ted Hosp, legal advisor to the governor. "We'll make a decision as to what is the proper course of action in the next couple of weeks."
Hosp said he expects a decision to be made by May 22, the date by which the administration has to respond to the Army's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
