Defense Environment Alert
June 4, 2002

PANEL TELLS OREGON GOVERNOR TO ENDORSE EMERGENCY PROGRAM

A govemor-appointed panel is advising Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) to endorse the emergency preparedness program for chemical weapons stockpiled in the state, something the governor must do before the Anny is allowed to move forward with destruction of the weapons.

"The Panel members have unanimously concluded that an adequate emergency response program is in place and fully operational to protect the general population surrounding the [Umatilla Chemical Depot]," the Umatilla Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program Executive Review Panel says in a May 14 letter to Kitzhaber. Accordingly, they advise him to send an endorsement of the program to the state's Department of Environment Quality (DEQ). Under the disposal facility's hazardous waste permit, the governor must ensure that an adequate emergency response program is in place before the Anny may begin incinerating chemical weapons at the plant. A DEQ source notes that the governor's approval of the emergency preparedness program is just one of 86 requirements the DEQ has to approve before giving the go-ahead for destruction operations.

The panel's assessment is based on a review of the results from "years of drills, exercises, system tests, public opinion polls, and public comments," the letter says. The governor in 2000 tasked the panel to evaluate the Oregon Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, or CSEPP, to see if it adequately protects the population. CSEPP is a federally funded program run by local and state entities and attempts to mitigate the effects of a possible chemical emergency related to stockpiled chemical weapons, according to the Army.

The panel's recommendations come after a May 7 annual exercise where preliminary results indicated all 15 performance measures were met, the letter says. "We want to emphasize that the US Army provided timely and accurate notification to the off-post jurisdictions, the counties provided timely and accurate warning to the immediate response zone communities, and the schools protected 100% of school children."

While the panel says it doesn't see any emergency management issues preventing the state from authorizing the Army to conduct thermal shakedown tests and surrogate bums, it notes "there are several key issues that are currently in progress and must be resolved in the coming months to strengthen the CSEP Program." It lists these as continuing the work to: "1) complete the 450 MHz radio system by February 2003; 2) update emergency response plans as necessary to reflect changes in chemical agent toxicity values; 3) prepare an evacuation plan for the immediate response zone communities; and 4) develop a chemical incident re-entry/recovery plan for evaluation at the next annual exercise (May 2003)."

The Oregon CSEPP has improved since early 2001, when the panel in an interim report found that it wasn't yet adequately prepared for emergencies at the depot (Defense Environment Alert, Jan. 2, 2001, p15).

A spokesman for the governor could not be reached at press time on whether the governor planned to follow the panel's recommendation.