Untitled Document

The Associated Press, October 23, 2002

Trial opens over incineration safety issues

By GILLIAN FLACCUS
The Associated Press

PORTLAND - Attorneys for a coalition of groups opposed to the incineration of nearly 4,000 tons of chemical weapons in northeastern Oregon will argue in court that the Army glossed over problems at other incineration facilities when it applied to the state for an operating permit.

The opening arguments scheduled for today mark the start of a trial that centers on the viability of a permit granted to the Army by the state Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Quality Commission in February 1997.

The permit allowed the Army and its military contractor, the Washington Demilitarization Group, to begin construction on a massive incinerator designed to destroy the mustard, sarin and VX stored in nearly 90 concrete bunkers near Hermiston.

That incinerator is now completed; the Army expects to begin burning the chemical weapons within a year. It must destroy the nerve agents by late 2007 under an international treaty, but has been granted a one-time, five-year extension for its Umatilla facility.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit - the Sierra Club, a Hermiston-based grass-roots group called GASP, the Oregon Wildlife Federation and about 20 private individuals - allege that the Army misrepresented the success of its incineration operations at other facilities to the state.

They also say the state didn't adequately consider other methods of destroying the chemicals, such as warm water neutralization, that the plaintiffs say are safer, faster and less expensive.

They also contend that the state DEQ should have revoked its permit later on, after problems with other incinerators on Johnston Atoll, off Hawaii, and in Tooele, Utah.

The trial is the third legal action over the incineration permit brought by the grass-roots group GASP in the past five years. Multnomah County Judge Michael Marcus ruled against the plaintiffs in the first two cases; GASP is appealing both decisions in the state appeals court.

``It's almost like the Three Stooges operating a facility. They have not been able to build a facility without problems, they have not been able to do test burns (at the incinerator) without problems,'' said Dr. Bob Palzer of the Sierra Club.

``At the time of the decision to go with incineration, it was already known that neutralization was a proven method for destroying these chemicals,'' Palzer said. ``We feel very strongly that once we have an opportunity to present all the evidence (in court) we have a very strong likelihood of prevailing.''

The state did review alternative ways to destroy the chemicals, including neutralization, but decided the method wasn't appropriate for Oregon because its stockpile contains fully assembled chemical weapons as well as nerve agents stored in bulk containers, said Wayne Thomas, DEQ project manager.

Neutralization works best on bulk quantities of mustard, or blister gas, he said.

``My staff and I are here, we work on this daily very closely and we set a very high standard for the Army and their contractor,'' he said. ``We're confident that the facility is going to do what it's intended to do, which is eliminate the stockpile and protect the public's safety.''

Mary Binder, spokeswoman for the Army, added that neutralization is still considered an experimental technology.

The Army is trying neutralization at two facilities, one in Indiana and one in Maryland, that store much smaller quantities of mustard gas and don't include pre-assembled weapons, she said.

``We know through many years of experience that incineration will work. We have almost 30 years of experience with this,'' she said.

The plaintiffs also say the Army shouldn't be allowed to incinerate because of problems with recent test burns at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

During two ``mini-burns'' in August and September, the incinerator released levels of metals that were above state limits, prompting the DEQ to shut down operations.

The mini-burns test the incinerator's effectiveness using two types of industrial solvents and 10 heavy metals that are added to the mix by injection.

In the first test, five of the 10 metals were released in high quantities after incineration. In the second test, two metals were still over the limit, Binder said.

Thomas said that the Army has been working with the state to fix those problems and had made several changes, including replacing certain equipment. He said the state would likely allow the incinerator back up within a month.

``We're looking at it piece by piece,'' Thomas said.

CHEMICAL DEPOT FACTS

The Umatilla Chemical Depot, located about seven miles west of Hermiston, stores 3,717 tons, or 12.1 percent, of the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons.

The U.S. Army site stores projectiles, rockets, land mines, spray tanks and bombs containing the nerve agents GB (sarin) and VX. Other containers store blister agent, or mustard. The depot was built in 1941 to store conventional weapons.

Of the 1,000 earth-covered bunkers at the depot, 89 contain chemical weapons brought there between 1962 and 1969. The last of the conventional weapons were removed in 1994.

Each concrete bunker is reinforced with steel and a vented, steel-reinforced concrete door. The storage igloos have a number of security features, including heavy steel-reinforced concrete blocks placed in front of each door; dual, high security padlocks; and an intrusion detection system.

A double-cyclone fence with barbed wire on top surrounds the entire storage area. The Army recently finished building a chemical incinerator to destroy the weapons, as required under an international treaty signed in 1997.

The Army hopes to begin incineration by fall 2003. It must have the weapons destroyed by late 2007 under international treaty, but has been granted a one-time, five-year extension for its Umatilla facility.

- The Associated Press

CHEMICAL DEPOT FACTS

The Umatilla Chemical Depot, located about seven miles west of Hermiston, stores 3,717 tons, or 12.1 percent, of the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons.

Of the 1,000 earth-covered bunkers at the depot, 89 contain chemical weapons brought there between 1962 and 1969. The last of the conventional weapons were removed in 1994.