THE BATTLE TO KEEP (OR GET) THE ARMY'S DEADLY CHEMICALS

An unusual fight is under way between Missouri and Alabama that involves Army bases, chemical warfare and a massive public relations campaign whose combatants claim either (A) chemicals used for warfare can be produced safely or (B) making chemicals used for warfare is a deadly risk to both humans and the environment.

It is a classic case of creating a barrage of words, poll results and innuendo to convince the Pentagon to keep Fort McClellan out of the grasp of the independent base-closing commission. The military brass says it wants to close the Alabama facility and move its operations, including the world's only chemical school that uses lethal nerve agents, to Fort Leonard Wood in the Missouri Ozarks.

While military strategists charged with downsizing in the post-Cold War era look for savings everywhere, the base-closing aspects of the trimming take on civilian dimensions that spread to the affected communities. That is why the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce in Anniston, Ga., has launched an all-out effort to keep Fort McClellan open. The stakes: 10,000 jobs, which is 17 percent of the region's work force.

The chamber commissioned a poll to test the public's mood about moving the chemical warfare operations to Missouri. Some 500 Show Me State residents initially were positive. After all, wouldn't it mean more jobs for the Waynesville area? Then the pollsters set their hooks: The next poll questions were framed with the information that an accident at the chemical warfare facility would be 12 times deadlier than Times Beach, which was abandoned a dozen years ago when it was discovered the streets were laced with dioxin. Now the poll results started shifting dramatically. By a 2-to-1 margin, Missourians contacted for the poll were against having the Army chemicals -- and the jobs.

The chemicals involved are among the most virulent known. The Army only stores small amounts at a time -- enough to kill 850,000 people. But scary statistics obscure the fact that the chemicals have been safely produced and stored in Alabama.

Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, who is known in Washington for his expertise on military matters, puts the Missouri-Alabama battle in perspective when he asks, "If it's so dangerous, why do the Alabama folks want to keep it?"

Alabama hopes to win the public-relations skirmish, but if it doesn't, it is ready to fire some big guns. The Army has said it plans to build a $100 million incinerator to get rid of old toxins at the Anniston Army Depot. Alabama says if the Army moves the jobs from Fort McClellan to Missouri, it can take its dangerous waste with it. The state says it will fight the incinerator if Fort McClellan closes.

And so the battles continue.