A senior aide to Gov. Don Siegelman said Friday that the administration is nearing an agreement with the federal government over emergency precautions for the community near Anniston's chemical weapons incinerator.The governor's legal advisor, Ted Hosp, told The Star that recent discussions with Justice Department lawyers have been productive and that a settlement could be coming within the next few days.
"It would not be surprising to me if in the very early parts of next week we could announce that the issue has been resolved," Hosp said. "The governor hopes that's the case."
Such an agreement would likely release about $7 million in federal funding for protective respiratory hoods for residents near the Anniston Army Depot's stockpile of chemical weapons and protective suits for the area's emergency responders. It would also signal the end of one of the most imposing obstacles the Army faces in its efforts to begin the destruction of the depot's stores of nerve and blister agent.
The governor's lawsuit, initially a wide-ranging effort that sought an array of protective measures including the installation of equipment that would make Calhoun County schools airtight in the event of a chemical release, has been whittled down to focus on the hoods and suits.
Hosp said the administration would still work to get these overpressurization systems and to resolve other issues, but that "the only thing outstanding is the hoods and level "A" protection."
Friday's announcement is not the first time that an end has seemed imminent in the interagency warfare over how best to prepare the tens of thousands of people who live in the shadow of the depot.
In March, Siegelman withdrew his motion for an injunction against the incinerator when the Federal Emergency Management Agency relented in their opposition to the hoods and suits. Just two weeks ago, Rep. Bob Riley, R-Ashland, Siegelman's opponent in the upcoming gubernatorial election, announced that the funds would be forthcoming. But since then, there has been no visible movement on the issue.
A spokesman for Riley said that he does not expect an announcement on these issues at Monday's fundraiser with President Bush in Birmingham.
Since FEMA dropped its initial objections to the equipment, the funding has been bogged down in deliberation and disagreement over how to distribute the hoods and protective suits. The delays led Siegelman to re-file the motion for an injunction in May.
By all accounts, the parties are at this point approving documents that would establish the protocol for the purchase, distribution and use of the equipment. The Calhoun County and Alabama Emergency Management Agencies have been left to develop these plans.
A FEMA spokeswoman said only that the agency is reviewing the plans.
The Army expects to begin burning sarin-loaded rockets in the fall.
