An Alabama congressman, concerned about the nerve gas that escaped from the Army's Tooele County incinerator last month, may seek congressional hearings on the plant's safety.

In addition, the County Commission of Calhoun County, Ala., where a similar incinerator is under construction, is calling for further investigation of the leak, which happened the night of May 8-9. The commission's letter cites a report in the Deseret News about the attempt to restart the incinerator after the first leak, which caused another release of chemical agent."It's a serious concern," said Pepper Bryars, press secretary for Rep. Bob Riley, R-Ala. "If a pin drops in Tooele, the people in Anniston hear it. They watch it very closely."

Army officials insist that so little nerve agent went out the smokestack that it posed no hazard to residents. But none is supposed to go out, and the plant has been closed since the incident while investigators try to determine what went wrong. The $1 billion Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, located near Stockton, Tooele County, is the first plant built in the mainland United States to destroy the Army's chemical warfare weapons. Since operations began in 1996, it has burned 4,418 tons of deadly nerve agent, about 32.4 percent of the original chemical stockpile.

Although Tooele County's is the largest stockpile, deadly GB (sarin), VX and mustard agent are stored at several other bases. Some of these bases will destroy weapons by alternative techniques, but others will use incinerators like the Utah plant.

Construction of incinerators has begun at Anniston, Ala.; Umatilla, Ore.; and Pine Bluff, Ark.

The Alabama plant, located at Anniston Army Depot about eight miles west of the city of Anniston, is supposed to begin burning chemical munitions in 2002. It is also called the Bynum plant.

Bryars said Riley was already concerned before the letter arrived from the Calhoun County, Ala., commission.

"We do have questions, and we do want somebody else to take a look at it," other than the officials who are already looking into the nerve agent leak. So far, the Army, the Centers for Disease Control and state environmental officials have been reviewing the incident.

Riley's office may ask the General Accounting Office to investigate. Then, Riley may hold congressional hearings on the matter.

As Bryars phrased it, when the reports are available, "let's all sit around the campfire and see what they all say."

Riley has been talking to a Utah congressman about what action to take.

Meanwhile, Alabama residents are keeping close tabs on the Utah incinerator.

The Calhoun County Commission letter, dated May 25, is addressed to Riley and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. In discussing the incident, it notes the Deseret News coverage of the leaks.

"The purpose of this letter is not to attempt to stop the Bynum incinerator from going forward," the five commissioners wrote. "Rather, we are only seeking answers to a series of vexing questions surrounding the recent event at Tooele and the release of the study conducted by the Army's private contractor."

According to the letter, the study indicates that in more than 95 percent of computer simulations about release of chemical agent at Anniston, not enough time would be available for area residents to evacuate before a plume of chemical agent reached them.

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"We're highly concerned about the accident that occurred in Tooele," Robert W. Downing, chairman of the Calhoun County Commission, told the Deseret News.

"It certainly gives us a lot of cause for concern because we are a much more populated county than Tooele County." He estimated that 75,000 people live within 10 miles of the Anniston incinerator.

"We are concerned also about the toxicity of the agents," Downing added. "We have some information that leads us to believe that some of these agents are more toxic than we originally were told."

E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com

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