Guard soldiers clean up ruptured shuttle tank
by Master Sgt. Bob Haskell
SAN AUGUSTINE, Texas (Army News Service, Feb. 11, 2003) -- Texas National Guard troops trained to test for toxic substances dealt with a dangerous piece of history - a ruptured tank from the space shuttle Columbia's fuel system -- in the Piney Woods region of East Texas in the rainy chill of Feb. 5.
Two members of the 6th Civil Support Team from Austin, wearing special protective suits, boots, face masks and air tanks, ensured the shuttle's tank was no longer leaking its highly toxic propellant. They then carried the tank a few yards to an array of lights that heated and evaporated the nitrogen tetroxide that was still inside.
All told, 716 National Guard troops, including civil support teams from the neighboring states of Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, joined Texas and federal authorities in the far-flung search for remains of the seven astronauts and debris from the space shuttle.
"We were pretty sure we would need a large number of troops because of the shear size of the area that was covered," said Col. Eddy Spurgin, commander of the Texas Army Guard's 36th Infantry Brigade from Houston after taking charge of a 580-member task force.
"We're here for as long as they need us, and we'll do whatever we're asked to do, even though we're sensitive to our Guard soldiers' civilian jobs," added Spurgin after learning that the mission for the Texas citizen-soldiers had been extended through Feb. 12.
Another 104 Louisiana Guard troops were supporting the search for wreckage that landed in that state, and four members of Louisiana's 62nd Civil Support Team were assisting the Louisiana State Police.
"This is it. This is the day," said Air National Guard 2nd Lt. George Pearson about how hard the 6th Civil Support Team had trained for its brush with history.
It was four days since the Columbia had broken up 39 miles over the Texas countryside on Feb. 1 and since a titanium tank had crashed into a forest of young pine trees near the San Augustine and Angelina county lines.
The circular propellant tank that stood about three feet high was the first of its kind built for the space shuttles, said John Robinson of United Space Alliance, a contractor for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, after checking the serial number. Columbia carried six of these tanks.
It was also the first of the Columbia's fuel tanks that had been found so far that split open on impact, Robinson added.
Columbia was the oldest of this country's space shuttles. It was built in 1981 and was 16 minutes from completing its 28th successful flight, when it broke apart and the seven astronauts, including six military officers, died.
"We're path-finding here. This is the first time we've ever done this," said Robinson, who praised the Guard troops for their practiced and painstaking work. "This is fantastic support. They were very professional," he said.
Although members of that team recounted how they had checked out other tanks from the Columbia, this was the first one in which "the product" inside had gotten out.
Nitrogen tetroxide was described as a "greenish liquid or brownish vapor, stored in tanks, bleach-like odor" in the guidelines for collecting the space shuttle's material that were given to all public service personnel.
"Let's just say it's nasty stuff," said one member of the Texas team that began setting up for the hazardous material mission after arriving at the site about 11:15 a.m. The 112-gallon tank, already cordoned off with red warning tape, was easily accessible from a dirt county road that cuts through the forest.
Staff Sgt. Anthony Buck and Sgt. James Cambron first handled the tank carefully, lifting it to check it over and then carrying it to the lights.
Staff Sgt. Art Phillips and Sgt. David Kuykendall went in next to wrap plastic bags around the electrical connections to keep the light system working.
Robinson and a representative from the Environmental Protection Agency closely watched their progress.
"We were pretty relieved it wasn't any heavier than it was," said Buck, who estimated the tank and remaining propellant weighed about 40 pounds. Everyone else, including Lt. Col. Brian Attaway, commander of the civil support team that was federally certified in August 2000, was also relieved that the most serious situation that his team has dealt with in relation to the Columbia crash went off without a hitch.
"Nothing happens in a hurry with hazardous materials," explained Maj. Matthew Conde, the team's medical officer. "You map it out and set it up. You take your time."
The Guard's 22-member civil support teams are specifically trained to survey debris sites and test wreckage for toxic substances from weapons of mass destruction that could harm emergency responders. Checking out fuel tanks and many other objects from the Columbia that fell on Texas was unexpected.
"Helping to clean up after a space-ship disaster," said Buck, "was not on our radar scope."
The Texas National Guard did everything possible to aid in that effort, according to Lt. Col. John Stanford, the state's Guard spokesman.
More than 200 Guard soldiers were added to the force on Feb. 5, and crews in four AH-64 Apache helicopters from the 49th Armored Division's aviation brigade were using their target imaging systems to look for wreckage, Stanford said.
Thirteen UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and a total of 84 military vehicles were committed to that cause, he added.
Meanwhile, a handful of specially trained Guard troops spent a long afternoon examining and dealing with the propellant tank in the woods near this small town. The sign there announces that "Texas History Happened Here."
Two groups of cowboys got into a shootout in that town during the late 19th century and the town's sheriff was killed, a Texas state police officer explained.
Members of the National Guard's 6th Civil Support Team can tell you for a fact that Texas history has again happened in and around San Augustine.
(Editor's note: Master Sgt. Bob Haskell is a member of the National Guard Bureau public affairs team.)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
