East Oregonian
February 4, 2003

DEQ fills Chemical Depot post

By the East Oregonian

HERMISTON - Dennis Murphey is the new state Department of Environmental Quality program administrator for the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

Murphey, 53, took over the post last week. His task is to ensure that the Depot complies with all DEQ requirements as it prepares to incinerate chemical weapons stored there.

Murphey was the director of the Department of Environmental Management in Cincinnati, where he was responsible for administering environmental compliance programs including air quality, pollution prevention and solid waste management.

Murphey replaces Wayne Thomas the former DEQ program administrator for the Depot.

While Murphey is new to regulating chemical munitions incineration, he has a background in environmental compliance management spanning more than 25 years. He was a director of the University of Kansas environmental and education programs, supervised the compliance efforts of an environmental consulting firm and served with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment as director of waste management and environmental remediation. His experience also includes several years of environmental compliance management in the agricultural industry.