East Oregonian
January 14, 2003

Test brings burns step closer

By KASIA PIERZGA of the East Oregonian
kpierzga@eastoregonian.com

UMATILLA - The Army is a step closer to incinerating the chemical weapons stockpile stored here following a successful mini-test burn completed last week.

The test met the requirements of the Umatilla Chemical Depot's state permit for removal of heavy metals, clearing the way for the next step, a surrogate trial burn that mimics the operating conditions under which the chemical weapons will be destroyed.

Results of the surrogate burn, which could take place by the end of January, 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 chemical weapons agent later this year.

The test burn was the second to take place following last September's shutdown of Incinerator One for inspection and repairs after previous tests produced heavy metals emissions that exceeded the state permit. Repairs were completed, and the emissions from the incinerator met requirements.

Other areas of the Depot incinerator facility continue to undergo testing, said Rick Kelley, spokesman for the Washington Demilitarization Company, the contractor in charge of building and maintaining the four Umatilla incinerators. The "shakedown process" for the deactivation furnace system, which will destroy the munitions' explosive components, is expected to continue later this week or early next week with mini-test burns.

During the trial burns, the Army isn't burning chemical agent, but is instead using dry cleaning solutions and degreasers augmented with heavy metals - materials that are considered environmentally hazardous and are actually more difficult to destroy than chemical weapons agent.