HERMISTON — Destruction of sarin-filled rockets resumed
Thursday at the U.S. Army's Umatilla Chemical Depot, after a recent series
of fires caused the facility to temporarily shut down.
Since April three M55 rockets containing the nerve gas sarin have exploded
and burned while being chopped up.
The fires in reinforced unmanned rooms
caused no injuries and little damage, but the cause has not been found.
For the past three weeks, state regulators at the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality have been reviewing the fires, the safety of the facility, and what
might be done to reduce future fires.
"Based upon our review, we are satisfied that the facility is prepared to
safely resume the destruction of M55 rockets containing chemical agent,''
Dennis Murphey, DEQ Chemical Demilitarization Program administrator, said
Thursday.
The depot's chemical weapons are so deadly that both plant and DEQ officials
say it's safer to burn the aging rockets than to store them.
Crews at the depot have taken steps to limit fires, including adding more
spray nozzles to cool the rocket-chopping blade and extinguish flames.
Umatilla has had four rockets catch fire since November, all while a blade
chopped through their explosive propellant.
The four other U.S. chemical arms incinerators have had fires at the same
stage, making the propellant the focus of investigations.
The depot contains about 12 percent of the nation's supply of chemical weapons,
and began burning them late last year. The project is expected to take several
years to complete.
Meanwhile, the Army has formed a task force to look into the Oregon fires
and others at a chemical-weapons destruction site in Arkansas.
