UMATILLA, Ore. (AP) — More chemical weapons could be headed for this small
northeastern Oregon town, under a just-announced proposal by the U.S. Army.
The Army is considering taking weapons that have been stored across the country and shipping them to one of just a handful of existing sites built especially to destroy the weapons.
But state and local officials say they plan to oppose any move to bring more toxic agents to the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
"Oregon will not accept any chemical weapons from another site," said Robert Flournoy, chairman of the Citizens Advisory Commission, a local watchdog group for the Umatilla Chemical Depot. "We don't want outside chemical weapons brought in."
Dennis Murphey, manager for the state Department of Environmental Quality's chemical demilitarization program, said bringing chemical weapons or any other hazardous waste into the state would violate the Army's current permits, and would need state approval.
"I would vigorously recommend that they do not approve any such modification," Murphey said.
But State Sen. David Nelson, R-Pendleton, said he would need more information about safety and the possible economic impact before opposing the idea.
The Umatilla Depot, one of eight sites around the country storing the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons, has about 7.4 million pounds of deadly nerve and blister agent in a variety of munitions.
The Depot began destruction of its weapons last fall under orders by Congress and an international treaty. The Army is also destroying weapons stored in Utah, Alabama and Maryland.
Storage sites in Arkansas and Indiana are scheduled to start destruction within the year. Sites in Colorado and Kentucky are in the early stages of construction for their weapons disposal facilities.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Defense told the Army to consider alternatives to destroying those weapons at those four sites, because of financial concerns and to meet a 2012 deadline for weapons destruction.
But federal law prohibits moving the weapons across state lines.
To relocate weapons, the law would have to be amended by a presidential order or act of Congress. States with disposal facilities, too, would have to agree to accept the weapons.
A final report on the feasibility of such a move is expected Feb. 18, Army officials said.