State environmental regulators have ordered managers at the Army's chemical weapons incinerator to correct three permit and regulatory law violations in the facility's laboratory.A surprise inspection in March by Alabama Department of Environmental Management inspectors turned up infractions that include the improper storage and mislabeling of hazardous waste containers. These violations and a number of other observations suggesting that laboratory practices were not properly overseen were listed in an informal but stinging letter to the incinerator project manager.
The letter, dated April 29, states that, though most of the "observations and discrepancies" appear to be insignificant, "the performance of the lab is disturbing" when the complaints are taken as a whole.
"These reports reflect a general attitude of lax management, and offer at least a hint of collusion between the laboratory branches (Analytical, Monitoring and Quality Control) to prevent any major discrepancies from seeing the light of day," the letter reads.
Incinerator project manager Tim Garrett said he was aware of problems in the laboratory even before the inspection or the subsequent warning letter.
He said that a review of the lab has already begun, with a visit from a chemist who worked at the prototype incinerator on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. In the coming weeks, he said, the lab will be visited by groups from Battelle Memorial Institute, which runs the lab, and the chemical demilitarization program's headquarters in Aberdeen, Md.
"It's going to be fixed," Garrett said, adding that the violations are "typical of a lab that's being brought up and stood up."
The incinerator's laboratory is responsible for monitoring agent levels within the plant to ensure worker safety and for monitoring the facility's stack for agent and other emissions.
The ADEM action is classified as a warning letter, not an official notice of violation. Department officials said the classification was a result of the facts that it was the first time these infractions were reported and that the incinerator is still undergoing trial burns and hasn't begun burning nerve agent.
"It would have changed our perspective if they were in agent ops," said Ron Shell, an ADEM environmental scientist.
The warning letter represents a level of enforcement that's a step above simple notice of an inspection and a step below a formal action that could require the payment of fines.
The Army has 30 days to respond to the letter. Garrett said he has invited ADEM to visit the laboratory to review the steps he takes to remedy the violations.
On March 21, while the incinerator was in the midst of its first set of trial burns on materials that are harder to destroy than the lethal agent, five ADEM inspectors conducted a surprise check on the laboratory, focusing on its quality control capabilities.
The inspectors, which included the head of the department's laboratory, found two deviations from ADEM administrative law, which would apply to any hazardous waste incinerator, and one breach of the incinerator's permit.
The regulatory violations involve the storage of hazardous waste. According to Garrett, a beaker with decontamination solution was left open and not labeled properly.
The permit violation involves quality control reports that didn't receive a proper follow-up. This and a list of other observations in the letter deal largely with management issues and documentation of laboratory activities.
"For example," the letter reads, "incorrect weights were used in sensitivity challenges, and instruments were not manually calibrated as required, yet there is no indication that these situations were adequately addressed."
"Agent concentrations were incorrectly labeled on a vial, yet the correct concentration mysteriously appeared on a form," it continues.
Garrett would not comment on whether any personnel changes would result from the warning letter.
The incinerator is expected to begin a second round of testing on surrogate materials May 27. It is expected to begin testing on nerve agent in September.
