[CPEO-MEF] A burning debate

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Alabama
ORLANDO SENTINEL
A burning debate
By Wes Smith | Sentinel National Correspondent
Posted August 8, 2003

ANNISTON, Ala. -- Tim Salter's uneasy mood turned grim as he pulled a
protective plastic hood over the head of his 5-year-old daughter
Kaitlyn. Her own playful smile quickly disappeared inside the
claustrophobic mask.

Kaitlyn was trying to cooperate with this troubled city's efforts to get
rid of more than 2,254 tons of explosives packed with nerve and blister
agents stored at the nearby Anniston Army Depot.

But the child and many others here can't help being frightened.

"Coming here today, it struck me that maybe something bad could happen,
but there is no telling what could happen if they don't get rid of it
either," Salter said.

The serene beauty of the surrounding Appalachian foothills offers little
comfort to Anniston these days. In the past, it has been disparaged as
"Toxic Town," a place so infested with lethal substances that it once
ranked 296th in livability out of 296 cities rated by a national
magazine.

That sorry legacy is dying hard.

Today, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., is to consider a petition
filed by 21 environmental groups seeking a temporary restraining order
to stop the U.S. Army from burning thousands of missiles, mines and
rockets containing -- and regularly leaking -- deadly nerve agents and
mustard gases.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/orl-asecarmygas08080803aug08,0,1600588.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

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