EO EDITORIAL
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Oregon
moving too quickly to oppose Army’s proposal
Turning away chemical
weapons from other states without even considering alternatives may not be
the best decision for Eastern Oregon.
Establishing road blocks at our borders to prevent importing chemical
weapons may be the politically popular reaction, but is it the only reaction?
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Sen. Ron Wyden have already started
building the road block, saying they oppose the idea of allowing the Army
to transport chemical weapons from other states to the Umatilla Chemical
Depot for eventual incineration.
Kulongoski and Wyden aren’t alone. Add to that list Dennis Flournoy
of Umatilla, who is chairman of a local watchdog group, and Dennis Murphy,
manager of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s chemical demilitarization
program.
This is not a popular proposal to say the least.
But by swiftly nixing this idea, Oregon has become guilty of NIMBYism
(not in my back yard).
The incinerator at the Umatilla Chemical Depot was built at considerable
expense to taxpayers. That facility, conceivably, could extend its useful
life by destroying weapons from other states. Taxpayers nationwide would
get a larger return on their investment, and northeast Oregon’s economy would
get an extra boost by extending the life of jobs at the incinerator.
Safeguards would need to be ensured, such as how the Army would guarantee
the safe transport of chemical weapons to the depot. We’d want a safety factor
of, like, 1 billion to 1, that bombs won’t explode while they’re being trucked
through La Grande, or that terrorists won’t commandeer a semi-trailer as
it makes its way through Pendleton.
We’d want assurances that it could take a direct strike from a Patriot
cruise missile before chemical vapor would be able to escape containment.
And we’d want to know with the added risks come financial guarantees:
Continued employment and safe operation of the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
If the Army says it can make those things possible, Oregon should
be willing at least to hear it out.