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Sierra Club Board of Directors Calls on U.S. Army To Halt Chemical Weapons Incineration Amid Incidents and Exposures Advanced Agent Monitors Must Be Installed at Anniston Facility Before Burning Continues, Board Says WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Army should halt chemical weapons incineration until advanced agent monitors are installed at its Anniston, Alabama Chemical Weapons Incinerator, resolved the Sierra Club’s National Board of Directors this weekend in their meeting at in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “The Army is putting the residents of Anniston at risk by burning chemical weapons in an urban area. What’s worse is that they’re not using the most up-to-date technology to protect people and their families,” said Board of Directors President Larry Fahn. This month, two incinerator workers were exposed to Sarin gas when performing activities associated with the processing of rockets that are being burned at the facility. This incident, along with a list of other mishaps, including a disturbing number of unplanned shutdowns since operations began in August, led citizens groups last week to call for an investigation by the Pentagon. The Sierra Club is among 20 environmental, veterans, civil rights and public health organizations that called on Undersecretary of Defense Michael Wynne to shutdown operations until an investigation is undertaken and completed. “There are bound to be accidents. The Army is using a facility that wasn’t made to burn these types of rockets. I’m terrified for my family. The least the Army can do is use the best technology out there to protect us,” said Rufus Kinney, an area resident who traveled to the Sierra Club board meeting in order to bring the resolution. This latest call for advanced chemical agents monitors comes on the heels of the 2004 Defense Authorization Bill which states that, “It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Army should deploy improved chemical agent monitors in order to ensure the maximum protection of the general public, personnel involved in the chemical demilitarization program, and the environment." This language followed almost ten years of recommendations to the Army by the National Research Council to upgrade airborne monitoring systems. But, to date, the Army has failed to act. The Anniston incinerator is located in the most densely populated urban area of any of the four chemical weapons burners, with 75,000 residents living in the “impact zone”. It is one of four chemical weapons stockpiles that is using incineration instead of a safer alternative called neutralization, which is being used at the four other sites. ### |
