05/19/2005
The state Department of Environmental Quality halted the destruction of
sarin-filled rockets at the Umatilla Chemical Depot after a fire was reported
in a containment room Wednesday. It was the third such fire since April 7. Investigations after the first two fires could not determine a cause, and
the Army continued destroying rockets after brief, voluntary shutdowns. The DEQ said it would order a shutdown if another fire occurred. Shortly
before noon Wednesday, there was a pressure burst, a flash of light and flames
that persisted for a few seconds, said Dennis Murphey, manager for the state
DEQ's chemical demilitarization program. "It certainly appears we're seeing a pattern," Murphey said. Murphey could not offer a timetable for when incineration might resume.
Murphey said the fire began at the fifth cut of seven that chops a rocket
for incineration. The cut was the first one into the propellant section.
None of the fires has resulted in injuries. The incinerator is destroying M55 rockets that contain sarin, a deadly
nerve agent. The rockets are only a part of the nerve- and blister-agent mines,
rockets, bombs and artillery shells stored at the depot. If incineration is
on schedule all of it will be destroyed in about 2010. The depot had about 12 percent of the national stockpile when the incineration
project started in September. The incinerator has two containment rooms. In one the rockets are punched
and drained of the chemical agent. In the other they are cut into pieces
for burning. The aging Cold War-era weapons containing VX, sarin and mustard agent were
transferred to the depot in the early 1960s. The United States is under treaty
obligation to destroy them.