Speak Out

Speak Out ... On the stockpile and a response

By our readers
07-19-2002

When the CSEPP project started, an engineering firm was hired to study our schools and hospitals and make recommendations of how to protect our citizens. It was determined that more than 50 buildings needed over-pressurization because the children and patients could not be timely evacuated. Well, I guess the Army or FEMA didn’t like the answers, so they fired that company and brought in The Army Corps of Engineers. Now RMC, the largest hospital to be affected, doesn’t need total over-pressurization. Some pressurization, emergency power and weather-proofing will do. Now there is no need to prepare for 24 or 48 hours because the event will be over in a couple of hours. Why did all this change? Cost? The new chemical toxicity data if anything should have caused increased protection, not a decrease. The Army Corps of Engineers does an excellent job when given the time and needed resources, but I think they were given an impossible mission. They had to fit their recommendations into the Army’s schedule as much as possible. When the preparations to build the incinerator started, we were told “Build it, burn it, and then tear it down.” Well, now I hear spokesmen asking the public to accept other items to be incinerated. I personally hope this never happens! I just hope our elected officials will not allow any other materials to be shipped in. Who knows, maybe they are already shipping items in. Did we go from protecting the public to just “Put something in place to make it look good”? The most disturbing issue is not the fact that we are going from maximum protection to minimal protection, but the Army and FEMA both claim the protection is not for the incinerator but instead being provided because of the storage risk. None of these measures were ever proposed before the incineration process started. The point here is the protective measures at the hospitals will not be in place during the transportation and incineration of some of the MOST dangerous munitions and chemical agents. Will the safeguards be in place before the weapons are transported and incinerated? What happened to worst case scenario preparation? Didn’t Sept. 11 show the Army that we must be prepared for a worst case scenario and not just the most likely event? Is the medical community ready for a worst case scenario or even a most credible event? There has been a lot of work accomplished by some very determined and dedicated people but let’s not stop now. We need to finish the preparations before an accident occurs. Don’t allow our children to be put in so much danger without safeguards in place. George Dudchock Anniston The Army responds The munitions located on Anniston Army Depot have been safely stored for more than 40 years. We will continue to safely store the munitions until the last one is destroyed. The possibility of an accident involving these weapons is extremely remote, but the workforce here recognizes its responsibility to the community and continues to maintain its commitment to emergency preparedness. In order to challenge emergency response personnel, scenarios selected for these exercises have included events considered “incredible.” One of our fictional training scenarios involved a large passenger aircraft crashing into our depot. This exercise, involving several of the surrounding counties, was conducted six months prior to the tragic events of Sept. 11. The scenarios generated for community exercises are exaggerated to allow for responders from the Alabama and six county EMAs throughout the CSEPP “footprint” to use CSEPP funds to improve their response capabilities. There is a misconception that this community will be placed in danger when the weapons start to be destroyed. The opposite is true: When we begin to eliminate the weapons we eliminate the problem. The truth is that continued storage of these weapons poses a greater potential for harm than their planned destruction. Even this risk from storage is extremely small and must be put into perspective. The reality is that even the men and women who work in the close proximity of these weapons are at greater risk of harm driving to work than from exposure to chemical agent. Also, the incinerator must meet or exceed all of the stringent EPA guidelines established for protecting human health and the environment or it will not be allowed to operate. Period. That is the law. The Army is committed to openness on this important issue. While every citizen at every site may not be aware of every piece of information, or every decision made, the Army wants to share the information we have. If you have questions, we invite you to visit or call the Outreach Office at 11 East 10th Street in Anniston, 238-0120. If your questions can’t be answered on the spot, they will be researched and an answer will be provided. LTC Bruce E. Williams Commander Anniston Chemical Activity Anniston

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