Anniston, Ala., October 4, 2001–The Army has tightened security at eight chemical weapons depots throughout the country in response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. It has sent hundreds of troops to guard the perimeters and imposed strict no-fly zones over the depots, which house bunkers of aging rockets packed with nerve gas.
According to Army officials, natural disasters and accidents�including jet crashes�could expose people living near the depots to the aging chemical weapons, which the Army is destroying over time.
A depot in Anniston, which has seven percent of the stockpile, or 2,254 tons of gas, has the largest population near it of any of the depots. Residents have been reluctant to accept a $1 billion incinerator built on site to burn the chemicals because of the inherent dangers.
The deadline for disposing of the chemicals at all the depots is 2007, but critics say that deadline is not likely to be met.
