The decision came after new tests.

The EPA approval announced Wednesday means the Army can continue destroying the most dangerous part of the depot's huge stockpile of cold war-era chemical weapons.

The environmental agency made the decision after it approved the results from retests performed on the incinerator's ability to remove PCBs from its stack emissions Small amounts of PCBs are contained in the rockets' shipping and firing tubes.

Project manager Tim Garrett says the EPA’s decision allows the incinerator to start destroying M-55 rockets and GB nerve agent, or Sarin, at half its maximum capability.

He says the incinerator, which is located about 50 miles east of Birmingham, will start burning 16 Sarin rockets per hour beginning this weekend.