East Oregonian
January 6, 2003

Chemical Depot test burn earns passing grade

UMATILLA - Emissions from a test burn last week at the Umatilla
Chemical Depot met the requirements of its state permit for removal of
heavy metals, Army officials reported.

Results of the test burn Dec. 29 indicated the pollution abatement system in
Incinerator one successfully removed the 10 tested metals, said Depot
spokeswoman Mary Binder.

The test burn was the first since last September, when Incinerator one was
shut down for inspection and repairs after failing previous test burns. While
emissions for Incinerator one exceeded state permit levels during those test
burns, they did not exceed allowable levels for the common stack shared by
all four of the Depot's furnaces, Binder said.

If the incinerator passes a final preliminary test scheduled today, the Depot is
expected to move forward with a surrogate trial burn. Results of the
surrogate burn will become part of the plant's official record with the state
Department of Environmental Quality. If testing continues to produce
successful results, the facility could start test burns of actual chemical
weapons agent later this year.

No chemical nerve or mustard agent will be burned in today's test. Instead,
the Army is burning dry cleaning solutions and degreasers augmented with
heavy metals - chemicals that are considered environmentally hazardous
and are actually more difficult to destroy than chemical weapons agent,
Binder said.