People living beside the Army's chemical weapons stockpile in Anniston may soon have reason to breathe a sigh of relief.
It's not because they live in the shadow of 2,300 tons of some of the deadliest chemicals stored on Earth, but because the federal government may soon come through on a promise.
Congressman Bob Riley, R-Ashland, anticipates that in a matter of days Washington will funnel money for the 35,000 or so protective hoods that local officials argue are needed to give residents here an added sense of protection.
"The protective hoods are coming unless there is a problem that none of us foresee at this time," Riley told the Star late Thursday. "We are doing everything we can up here to get those hoods down there as expeditiously as possible."
The Undersecretary of Defense gave his word last year that the hoods were a done deal. Then the Federal Emergency Management Agency stepped in, holding back the promised money until Calhoun County wrote a proposal detailing hood specifications and how residents would be trained to use the gear.
The proposal, written by Jacksonville State University, arrived in Washington Thursday, Riley said. It also spells out who will be liable for the hoods - the manufacturer.
Riley had a talk with a high-ranking FEMA official Thursday, a day after news broke that elected officials in Washington and their staffers and tourists will have access to 20,000 protective hoods at the Capitol.
"He said, 'The plan looks good,' but he needs one or two more days to study it," Riley said of his conversation with Dave Paulison, the U.S. Fire Administrator at FEMA. "But he (Paulison) felt confident that he should be able to release the money in the next few days."
While the money for the hoods remains - at least momentarily -in bureaucratic limbo, emergency personnel in the county still lack the Level A equipment to respond to a chemical accident. Many schools in the area also lack the airtight rooms that the federal government promised they would receive.
What the federal government has delivered is money for the county to purchase thousands of beverage coozies, highlighters, insulated travel mugs, plastic sports bottles, duffle bags, pencils and prescription pill cases.
These items are part of a public information campaign aimed at familiarizing people with CSEPP and the county Emergency Management Agency.
Why didn't they include Frisbees, Commissioner Robert Downing jokingly asked during Thursday's County Commssion meeting. He said the toys would at least show residents which way the wind was blowing, which will determine where a chemical plume might go.
"I don't think you can get funding for Frisbees," Commissioner Eli Henderson replied.
For all their jesting, the commissioners have been in the vanguard of the preparedness issue.
"It's easy for us to get things to give away to make people aware of the program," Downing said of the trinkets. "But the items that allow us to provide credible protection for the citizens are refused. That's the irony."
The fear is that the incinerator will fire up and the whooping cry of sirens will sound a chemical accident before the money for hoods, protective suits and airtight classrooms arrive, said Henderson.
Henderson lives in and represents an area distinguished as the Pink Zone, so named because its 36,000 residents live closest to the stockpile of GB and VX nerve agent, as well as mustard gas.
"I'm just disappointed that our federal government would choose to provide protective equipment for tourists in Washington, and we've been asking for it for four years," Henderson said. "We have the greatest danger of any community in the whole world and yet we cannot get that equipment."
Henderson isn't alone in his gripe. The governor takes a similar position.
"They (the federal government) can take care of the people in Congress and the staffers that work for congressmen. But they can't furnish (protective hoods) to the people of Calhoun County. Instead, they send beer huggers and pencils," said Gov. Don Siegelman, who has filed a lawsuit to block the incinerator's startup until more protective measures are in place.
"They've been trying every way in the world to not fund this stuff, said commission Chairman Lea Fite. "But now that they've made this announcement that they are going to give hoods to Washington D.C., now they don't have any excuses,"
Many here are suspicious of any statement that the money is coming. The county has heard those statements before.
"If that happens, we will be very pleased," said Brian Lazenby, spokesman for the county Emergency Management Agency. "But we've learned never to count our chickens."
Still, the news from Riley is encouraging, said Downing. If it proves true, "We will all look forward to getting the protective measures in place and put all of this wrangling behind us."
Attempts to reach FEMA officials for comment were unsuccessful.
In a related event, commissioners sent Siegelman a letter Thursday seeking clarification on his position about obtaining accurate toxicity measures for the chemical weapons that the incinerator will destroy.
More than a year ago, Siegelman listed the data as the number-one item on a checklist of safety measures that must be in place before he would allow the government to start burning nerve agent.
The Army had promised that new toxicity thresholds would be calculated.
Last June, the Environmental Protection Agency published new acute exposure guideline levels for the chemical agents here. The Army later said it would accept them. Yet, county officials say, the Army continues to rely on "hopelessly outdated and dangerous" ones.
Army officials could not be reached for comment, but Siegelman said, "Our position has not changed" on the issue. "We need to be able to measure that so that we know if there is a real threat."
