Group protesting incineration files appeal

PORTLAND, Ore. - A group opposed to the U.S. Army's plan to incinerate chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot filed a request for an injunction Thursday.

The request came one day before state regulators were due to meet in Hermiston to consider whether to give the go-ahead for the incineration of nearly 7.4 million pounds of nerve and blister agents starting next week.

The regulators will still meet, but if the injunction is granted their decision will not be the last word, said Dennis Murphey, who oversees the chemical demilitarization program for the state Department of Environmental Quality.

Destroying the munitions and shutting down the Umatilla plant is expected to take six years - three years past the initial deadline set by an international treaty.

More than 220,599 munitions containing nerve and mustard agents left over from the Cold War need to be burned, a feat expected to cost $2.4 billion.

Incineration opponents filed two earlier lawsuits to block the burning, arguing that the incineration is risky and poses a threat to public health. Both were decided in the state's favor and are pending in the Oregon Court of Appeals.

A U.S. Circuit Court judge in Portland is expected to decide whether to grant the emergency injunction on Monday, said Stewart Sugarman, the attorney for GASP, the grassroots organization asking for the hold.

"This could be our last gasp," Sugarman joked. The group contends regulators ignored potential risks, such as toxic emissions. But the state and the Army say the incineration method is safe.

If the injunction is not approved, the Army is expected to begin incineration of its stockpile of M-55 rockets, each containing roughly one gallon of liquid sarin, as early as next Wednesday, said Army spokeswoman Mary Binder.

On the first day, a pallet of 15 rockets will be transferred from the storage igloos into the disposal facility.

On Thursday, one rocket will be dismantled and the hull incinerated. The liquid nerve agent will be placed in a holding tank and destroyed once enough liquid builds up, she said.

It will take approximately three months to get the incinerator working at full throttle, at which point the facility will be able to dismantle up to 40 rockets per hour, Binder said.

"It's going to be a very, very slow startup," she said.