Defense Environment Alert

an exclusive biweekly report on defense policies for cleanup, compliance and pollution prevention

Vol. 16, No. 23

November 11, 2008

OREGON ACTIVISTS APPEAL CHEMICAL WEAPONS INCINERATION

Anti-incineration activists in Oregon are challenging a decision by state regulators that backs the Army's choice of incineration as its preferred method for destroying a stockpile of World War II-era mustard agent, a move that poses a risk of delays to the program, one state regulator says. In a new lawsuit, activists seek to halt incineration in the state pending another review of available alternative destruction methods.

The case renews the drive by opponents of incineration who previously sued successfully under state law to stop the process, which they warn may release dangerous mercury trapped in the mustard agent. The activists want the Army to instead adopt a non-incineration method such as neutralization to destroy the weapons.

The G.A.S.P. coalition and the Sierra Club, plaintiffs in a previous case that forced state regulators to review the suitability of incineration as a disposal method, filed suit once again Oct. 31 in the Oregon Circuit Court. Their suit alleges that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the body responsible for overseeing the department, the state Environmental Quality Commission (EQC), failed in their duty to ensure that incineration represents the Best Available Technology (BAT) that could be used for destruction. The petition is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.

Mustard agent containing high levels of mercury is slated for destruction at two chemical weapons stockpiles, at Umatilla, OR, and Tooele, UT. In Utah, the Army's Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) has tested each one-ton container thought to contain mercury, to determine the exact content of each, Army officials say. GA.S.P. says in its court filing that the agency should adopt the same approach in Oregon, rather than relying on a statistical model to predict how much mercury will be contained in each container as is now proposed.

GA.S.P. has been trying for several years to force CMA to switch from incineration to an alternative technology, such as the water-based neutralization to be employed at other stockpile sites in Blue Grass, KY, and Pueblo, CO. The group distrusts carbon filtration technology the Army proposes to employ in smokestacks to catch any fugitive
emissions of mercury from the incinerators.

But the EQC is backing the technology. In a Sept. 4 decision, the EQC found that "incineration in the liquid incinerator (LIC) and metal parts furnace (MPF) with the addition of sulfur impregnated carbon filters to the pollution filtration system of the MPF is the best available technology (BAT) for treatment of mustard agent containing mercury in ton containers." Further, alternative technologies including neutralization and a new system known as DAVINCH "have not been demonstrated as viable for effective treatment of mustard containing mercury in ton
containers."

Also, "the EQC finds that neutralization technology would generate effluent and residue that would not meet [Resource Conservation and Recovery Act] land disposal restrictions and would likely require additional treatment by incineration."

The Sept. 4 BAT determination was required by the state circuit court in an April 17, 2007, ruling that halted incineration of mustard agent and disposal of secondary waste, or "dunnage," in a metal parts furnace, pending review of whether incineration constituted BAT. G.A.S.P. says the EQC 's BAT determination falls short, of legal requirements. "We don't really believe the DEQ looked at all the available technologies" in an in-depth manner, says one GA.S.P. source. "They did the absolute minimum," the source adds.

Regarding incineration of mercury-laced mustard agent, an attorney representing GA.S.P. says "there is clear evidence that it is not the best technology." The attorney further alleges the Army unduly influenced the DEQ and EQC, which the lawyer accuses of "not doing their homework." The attorney says, for example, that the EQC's opinion contains no fair comparison of the health effects of incineration versus neutralization.

The Army and DEQ have repeatedly denied in the past that the DEQ's independence is compromised by pressure from the military or its contractors. CMA says in a written response to questions: "We disagree with any characterization that Oregon DEQ and the Army have an inappropriate relationship."

Mustard agent incineration is in fact some way off at Umatilla, as the site has only just finished incinerating its stock of VX nerve agent, and will now take several months, possibly even a year, to switch over to the mustard campaign, according to officials with CMA. The mustard campaign should get underway by fall 2009, and be complete by the end of 2011, officials say.

If a stay on processing is granted by the court, the campaign will clearly be delayed, officials admit, while regulators more thoroughly probe alternatives to incineration. In the meantime, the program will press ahead as planned, officials say. The prospects of a serious delay to the program are therefore unclear -- such a delay would most likely occur should the courts force a replacement of incineration with another technology, which would require extensive construction.

Irrespective of the outcome of the new court case, a congressionally-mandated target of 2017 for destruction of the country's stockpiles does not seem to be threatened at Umatilla or Tooele. At the remaining sites employing neutralization, however, DOD has already warned that operations will extend to until 2020 and 2023 in Colorado and Kentucky, respectively.