East Oregonian
Publication Date: 1/18/03
Page and Section: 1 A

Depot waste still an issue

By KASIA PIERZGA of the East Oregonian

UMATILLA -- The Army plans to begin burning chemical agent at the Umatilla Chemical Depot later this year, but what it will do with the liquid hazardous waste produced in the process remains unresolved.

Army and state environmental officials disagree over whether all the liquid waste should be reduced to a brine sludge on site, or if some of the waste will be transported by tanker truck to out-of-town waste disposal facilities if the brine reduction area, or BRA, can't keep up with the amount produced.

While the state permit doesn't specify that all waste from incineration of the chemical weapons stockpile must go through the Depot's brine reduction area before being sent to off-site hazardous waste facilities, the Army has promised all along that no liquid waste from chemical incineration would leave the Depot, said Sue Oliver, senior chemical demilitarization specialist for the state Department of Environmental Quality.

Officials from DEQ and from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservations want to keep the Army from shipping any liquid waste off site, because transporting the hazardous material on public highways increases the chance of a spill, Oliver said.

The Army has every intention of using the brine reduction process to manage its liquid hazardous waste, said site manager Don Barclay. But it's important to preserve the option of sending the waste for treatment elsewhere if the system can't keep up with the rate at which the waste is produced, or if the brine reduction system breaks down. If for any reason the liquid waste can't all be treated on site, destruction of chemical agent could be slowed or stopped, he said.

But the Army has a strong interest in keeping the brine facility operational because there's always a chance that the waste couldn't be shipped off site due to unforseen circumstances such as a trucking strike or the unavailability of a federally permitted hazardous waste facility that can accept the waste.

"We built it, we're testing it, and we're going to have it ready to support agent operations," he said. "But as a manager, I want to retain any viable options available to me in case I need them."

Local residents and officials from DEQ and the Tribes have raised concerns that the Army might renege on its promise to dispose of liquid hazardous waste at the Depot. While the Army used a brine reduction system at Johnston Atoll, the system at its Tooele, Utah, facility was never used because Army officials found it was cheaper to ship the waste off site. The Army has yet to decide whether it will use the brine reduction systems at its disposal facilities at Anniston, Ala., and Pine Bluff, Ariz.

Barclay insisted that liquid hazardous waste will be processed in the Umatilla Depot's brine system.

"We are planning to use it, and we will use it," he said.

While the first surrogate trial burns in Incinerator One are set to begin Friday, the brine reduction area is still in the testing state. Barclay said it will be ready to go when agent incineration begins later this year.

A public hearing on DEQ's request for a permit modification requiring the Army to reduce all liquid hazardous waste on site was held in December, and the public comment period closed just before Christmas. Public comments will be available for review by the middle of next week at several locations, including the Hermiston and Pendleton libraries and the DEQ office in Hermiston. The public comments will also be sent to the state Environmental Quality Commission, which will make a determination on DEQ's permit modification request within the next few months.

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Reporter Kasia Pierzga can be reached at 1-800-522-0255 (ext. 1-309 after hours) or e-mail: kpierzga@eastoregonian.com.