09/17/2004

Associated Press

Managers suspended destruction of chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot for a second day on Thursday to investigate how two workers walked into a contaminated room without protective suits.

It was not clear when the depot would come back on line, said Army spokeswoman Mary Binder.

The incinerator shut down Wednesday after the workers accidentally entered the a room where the chemical agent is stored before it is incinerated.

The chemical elements are being drained from the weapons and will be burned when a sufficient quantity has been collected in tanks. The weapons themselves also are burned at high temperatures to destroy any residual agent.

Binder said the two entered a waste disposal room in the main building to do work there and test an alternate escape route.

Binder said the two had protective clothing but not at the level they normally would wear going into the agent storage room. She said the level of the agent in the room was low and that the men were checked twice onsite and once at a clinic.