The Utah chemical weapons incinerator in Tooele Valley, less than 30 miles from Salt Lake City, has been forced to shut down several times due to malfunctions since the start up of live nerve agent operations August 22, 1996. Within 72 hours of start up the plant was shut down when nerve agent was found leaking from filters outside of the plant.
March 3-7, the Chemical Weapons Working Group, Sierra Club and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation returned to Federal Court to present new evidence and to ask again for a temporary injunction, before a catastrophic accident occurs. An injunction would have shut the plant down until a full hearing which is scheduled later this year. March 24, Federal Judge Tena Cambell ruled to allow the facility to continue to operate. March 18-20, the CWWG, et al. went before the Utah Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste to ask that the permit for the incinerator be revoked. The State ruled to allow the facility to continue to operate on April 18.
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Nerve agent of unknown quantities is being released in the stack
gasses on particulate matter.
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The method being used to monitor stack gasses for nerve agent has
never been validated for accuracy or approved by the EPA.
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There have been six confirmed nerve agent stack alarms since start
up. However, stack alarms are sounding on average once every one or
two weeks and according to Army manager Tim Thomas, these alarms
are being set off by chemicals they can't identify.
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It took 24 hours to discover nerve agent leaks in the vestibules
surrounding the plant's filter banks. These vestibules were not
designed to be airtight, nonetheless, plant managers continue to
insist that during the 24-hour period that nerve agent leaked into the
vestibules, none escaped into the environment.
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Trial burn data for dioxin emissions was falsified. The worker
responsible was removed from the job and the test was redone.
However, regulators took no enforcement action. How often this takes place is unknown.
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Risks to workers are increasing--there have been at least 200 "hot cut-outs"
since start up, where workers exiting contaminated areas have had to
cut out of their protective suits.
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Subsistence farmers were eliminated from the Health Risk
Assessment (HRA) despite the fact that Tooele County is a Mormon
community and it is a Mormon practice to be self sufficient and to
grow and store a year's worth of food.
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Dairy farmers were eliminated from the HRA because regulators said
they couldn't find any nearby, despite a survey by a former TOCDF
employee which showed the presence of dairy farmers in the area.
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Thousands of cracks in concrete floors, walls and ceilings permeate
the facility. Cracks in concrete caused the second plant shutdown
when potentially agent-contaminated solution was found leaking
through a concrete floor into an electrical room below.
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The Dunnage incinerator is still not working. As a result, agent-
contaminated wooden pallets, rags, carbon filters and protective
clothing are being stored in igloos and then shipped elsewhere for
disposal.
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The Brine Reduction Area (BRA) is still not working. The BRA at
JACADS has never worked, creating millionsof gallons of liquid haz-waste to be shipped elsewhere
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Rockets are jamming in the Deactivation Furnace. Prior to his
departure from TOCDF, former General Manager Gary Millar wrote in
his journal that this problem, which has also been a problem at
JACADS, has the potential of leading to a major incident.
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If there is a major fire, the Fire Suppression System, as designed, will
cause a loss in negative air pressure, thereby risking nerve agent
release in the facility.
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At the time of start up, workers had not received basic training in how
to operate the Fire Suppression System.
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A Risk Management Program has still not been developed at the
facility and in January, Quality Assurance Specialist Don Smith wrote
in his journal that the Army and EG&G decided not to fund this
program.
