LOIS EMBER

Five fires at chemical weapons disposal facilities at Umatilla, Ore., and Pine Bluff, Ark., have occurred during the destruction of sarin-filled rockets over a one-and-a-half month period this spring.

Since 1990, fires have occurred infrequently at all Army destruction facilities during the disposal of these rockets, but the sheer number of them in such a short period now has prompted the Army to undertake an investigation.

During the disposal process, the nerve agent is drained from the rockets, which are then taken to an explosive containment room where they are cut into eight pieces. It is during the fifth or seventh cuts that the fires have occurred. There has been no release of sarin to the environment, and no worker has been harmed. The Army is analyzing, at its New Jersey armament lab, the rockets’ aging propellant as a possible cause of the fires.

Despite the two fires at Pine Bluff, destruction has continued there, but Oregon environmental officials have ordered a halt to destruction at the Umatilla site. The Army believes that order will be lifted shortly. To date, 14,500 rockets have been incinerated at Umatilla and more than 8,000 at Pine Bluff.