Group asks for injunction to halt Umatilla incineration

Associated Press

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The group, called GASP, alleges that continued burning will harm pregnant women, breast-feeding infants and children.

Incineration of M55 rockets containing chemical warfare agents began Sept. 9. Since then, 11 rockets have been destroyed.

More than 90,000 rockets, as well as thousands of other munitions containing nerve and blister agents, are scheduled to be burned over the next six years.

The injunction request seeks to delay the process at least until a ruling is issued by the appeals court in a lawsuit GASP filed more than five years ago.

That lawsuit, filed against the state and the U.S. Army, alleges incineration is not the safest technology for destroying the weapons.

While a panel of judges recently heard the final oral arguments in the case, its decision could still be months away.

"Even if it operates perfectly, even it doesn't explode - which we think is a real possibility because of its design - people will suffer brain damage," GASP attorney Stuart Sugarman said.

State regulators, however, said they don't believe the area around the depot is any more at risk from the incinerator than it is from sources such as burn barrels and other waste facilities.

The injunction request is GASP's second attempt to temporarily delay the rocket processing at the depot. A judge in the circuit court denied the group's original request in August.

A decision by the appeals court could come any time in the next three weeks, Sugarman said.

However, the motion could also be dismissed on a technicality. According to attorneys representing the state, the Army and the contractor operating the facility, GASP may have filed the motion too late, missing the court's deadline.