Depot begins final sarin-filled
munitions campaign
Destruction
begins on 155-mm shells
By the East
Oregonian
HERMISTON -
The
Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility plans to begin destroying the
site's last sarin-filled munitions by Monday.
Workers at the
Umatilla Chemical Depot moved 792 artillery projectiles Thursday
afternoon to the disposal facility at the depot. The projectiles are
155-mm shells.
"This is the last sarin campaign," depot Spokesman Bruce Henrickson
said.
The
previous campaign involved 8-inch sarin-filled artillery shells, the
last of which were destroyed Jan. 3. Workers completed change- over
preparations to modify equipment and procedures from that campaign to
this one in a little less than a month.
There are 47,406 of the
155-mm projectiles, the last type of sarin-filled munition stored at
the depot. Each projectile is 27 inches long, weighs about 100 pounds
and holds about 6.5 pounds or two-thirds of a gallon of GB nerve agent.
In all, that's 308,139 pounds of nerve agent, 154 tons.
That's the equivalent of 26 full-grown African elephants, the world's
largest land animal.
The
changeover from processing 8-inch to 155-mm projectiles was scheduled
to be completed by mid-February. Planning for the changeover began
weeks before the last 8-inch projectile was destroyed, which helped
ensure hardware and work orders were in place.
Don Barclay, U.S. Army site project manager for UMCDF said the
changeover went smoothly and a bit ahead of schedule.
"We're pleased to be processing munitions again," he said
After
this newest campaign, only Pine Bluff, Ark., and Blue Grass, Ky., will
be the last Army sites with any sarin-filled munitions. Other types of
chemical weapons are scheduled for disposal after this campaign is
completed.
Lt. Col. Donna Rutten, the depot commander, said
"Team Umatilla" has worked well and safely to reach the beginning of
the end of GB agent storage.
"While we still have several years
to go until we dispose of all types of chemical munitions stored here,
it's a significant accomplishment to get started on this campaign." she
said.
Doug Hamrick, project general manager with the Washington
Group International, the Army's system contractor, said production will
start slowly and then increase gradually as equipment and procedures
are reviewed.
The disposal facility has processed more than
91,000 M55 GB rockets, 2,445 GB bombs and 14,246 8-inch GB projectiles
that had been stored at Umatilla. The entire GB disposal campaign
should be complete by mid-2007 if there are no significant delays.
After that, the facility will prepare for a series of disposal
campaigns of VX nerve agent munitions, beginning with M55 VX rockets.
After destruction of all VX munitions, the depot will dispose of
mustard agent stored in bulk containers.
Since Sept. 8, 2004,
when it began destroying chemical munitions, the UMCDF has destroyed
more than 108,000 rockets, bombs, ton containers and 8-inch
projectiles. This comprises about 860 tons or 24 percent of the agent
tonnage originally stockpiled at Umatilla. |
