United States:  Alabama Governor Tries to Block CW Incinerator

Alabama Governor Don Siegelman filed a lawsuit yesterday to block the opening of a $1 billion chemical weapons incinerator at the Anniston Army Depot.  He said the federal government failed to spend $40.5 million in safety measures for the surrounding communities (see GSN, Feb. 14).

“Not so much as a match will be struck in Anniston until the safety of our citizens is guaranteed,” Siegelman said.  There are 75,000 people living within 10 miles of the facility.

Alabama officials and the U.S. Army agreed last year to spend $40.5 million in federal funds on gas masks, protective suits and other safety measures, Siegelman said.  Later, the Federal Emergency Management Agency decided not to buy some of the equipment, following a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that said part of the plan would present logistical problems and have a harmful psychological effect on residents living near the incinerator.

The federal government decided against spending $15.5 million of the agreed funds on gas masks and protective suits, said Mike Abrams, spokesman for the incinerator.  Instead, authorities told residents to seal houses with plastic sheeting and duct tape if an accident occurs.

The Army said it has implemented all possible safety measures.  The safest thing is to destroy the chemical agents, the Army said (see GSN, Oct. 2, 2001).  Storing the chemicals is more dangerous, said Abrams.  “They will be a problem until we process them in our facility,” he said.

The lawsuit is unnecessary, said Congressman Bob Riley (R-Ala.), a potential opponent to Siegelman in November’s elections.  The federal government has provided “every assurance” that Alabama would get the money, he said.  “The last thing we need to do is get a bunch of lawyers involved.”

The Army plans to destroy 2,254 tons of chemical weapons dating back to World War II during a four-year period (Jay Reeves, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 15).

Back to top

United States:  New Security Policies in Place at U.S. Depots

By Greg Seigle
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The 1,100 soldiers guarding the U.S. Army’s eight chemical weapons stockpiles have permission to kill intruders, the commander of the U.S. Army Soldier and Chemical Biological Command said this week.

After Sept. 11 the Army switched from a “protect from the inside” strategy to one in which soldiers have permission to shoot anyone who enters unauthorized areas outside the “wires,” or fences, said Maj. Gen John Doesburg during a bioterrorism conference Tuesday.

“The idea [before Sept. 11] was ‘I’ll catch them after they go over the wires’ and keep them from getting to the weapons,” Doesburg said, adding that the depots are laden with sophisticated surveillance systems such as motion and heat sensors.

Now, he said, “there’s not a terrorist today who will get to those chemical weapons.  They’ll be killed before they get to that wire.”

Doesburg did not say whether there have been any attempts to infiltrate any of the chemical weapon installations.

He did say, however, that he had spoken to all of the 1,100 guards, whom he called “very professional,” to ensure they follow strict rules of engagement in case someone does.

Usually the rules of engagement for protecting such dangerous materials call for guards to order an infiltrator to halt.  If the intruder refuses after two or three demands, plus a warning shot, it is permissible for a soldier to aim and fire, according to a retired Army officer who served as the top military police officer at an Army post.

In rare cases — such as when an intruder is about to escape or detonate a weapon — a guard can fire without warning, the retired officer said.

The Army’s chemical arsenals are now stockpiled at Anniston Chemical Activity in Alabama, Blue Grass Chemical Activity in Kentucky, Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah, Edgewood Chemical Activity in Maryland, Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, Pine Bluff Chemical Activity in Arkansas, Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado and Umatilla Chemical depot in Oregon.

Before the war on terrorism began the depots were guarded very carefully, now they are literally surrounded by soldiers, Doesburg said.

“We had a good protection system but we had to make it better,” he said.

Back to top

Japan:  Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty For Aum Shinrikyo Member

Japanese prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult who has been charged with five counts involving attacks with chemical weapons, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported today (see GSN, Jan 23).

Prosecutors requested the sentence in the closing arguments of the trial of Seiichi Endo, who admitted to helping produce the sarin gas used in the 1995 subway attack that killed 12 people.  Endo had a major role in the attack.  He took part in the planning, made the sarin, put it into bags and distributed preventive medicine to the persons who carried out the attack, according to the indictment.

Endo has also been charged with taking part in a 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto, Japan, that killed seven people; the attempted murder, using sarin, of an attorney who was assisting cult members that wanted to leave the group and the attempted murder, using VX gas, of another man who was helping people quit the cult, according to Kyodo.

Endo said he acted on the instructions of the cult’s founder, Shoko Asahara, in the 1995 subway attack, but denied any intention to kill and said he did not know the sarin he produced was to be used in the attack.  Endo also denied any intention to kill in the Matsumoto attack and said he was only put on standby at the site (Kyodo/BBC Monitoring, Feb. 12).

Back to top

Hamas:  Palestinians Launch New Rockets, Hamas Says Could Carry CW

The firing of two Qassam-2 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel yesterday may foreshadow future attempts by Hamas militants to deliver warheads laced with chemical weapons, according to the Miami Herald.

The rockets fired yesterday were more advanced than previous Qassam rockets and could possibly carry chemical warheads, according to a senior Israeli security official.  Hamas leaders have said the rockets could carry chemical weapons on “nonconventional warheads,” the official said (see GSN, Jan. 2).

The two rockets landed harmlessly near a kibbutz and a farm, four to five miles from the Gaza border.  They do not have a guidance system and are much less powerful than rockets launched by Iraq during the Gulf War, but they travel three times farther than earlier Qassam rockets and could hit a metropolitan target, according to an Israeli army statement.

Officials believe that Palestinians make the rockets — which require only simple explosives for propulsion — domestically and the rockets are supplied by Iran, according to the Miami Herald (Tim Johnson, Miami Herald, Feb. 11).

The Israeli Defense Forces said that the rockets could carry a warhead as large as four to six kilograms, according to the Jerusalem Post.  The Post reported that a Qassam-2 can travel six to eight kilometers, but the IDF said the rockets have a range of 10 to 12 kilometers (Dudkevitch/O’Sullivan, Jerusalem Post, Feb. 11).

Back to top

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

HOME  |  CONTACT US  |  GET INVOLVED  |  SITE MAP