LOCAL
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Incineration issues
concern Echo City Council
By CASEY WHITE
of the East Oregonian
cwhite@eastoregonian.com
ECHO — City officials
expressed mixed feelings about the chemical weapons incineration planned
at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty attended this week’s
Echo City Council meeting to hear any concerns city leaders might have about
the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program.
“Are we missing anything?” Doherty asked the council. “Should chemicals
be incinerated as soon as possible or not?”
Council member Pat Wood said everyone he’s talked to in the Echo
community wants burning to start as soon as possible, although there is some
concern about the ability to do it safely.
“I don’t see what we gain by keeping it any longer,” Ed McCallum
said. “Every once in a while we hear about leaks, and those don’t do us any
good keeping them around.”
However, council chairwoman Phyllis Shovelski said she had major
concerns about air quality once the burning begins.
“There are a lot of dangerous chemicals that could damage our air,”
Shovelski said. “I’m concerned. I don’t know what’s going to come out of
that stack. I’m just glad I live here in Echo, farther away from it all.”
Doherty said CSEPP has “a ton” of people working on the air quality
issue, under the oversight of the state Department of Environmental Quality.
He said that DEQ will hold a public hearing in the area within the next three
months to allow the public to comment on the air quality issue.
“I want people to come and speak up for and against this issue,”
Doherty said.
In other city business, the council elected fifth-grade teacher Jeanne
Hampton to the vacant council seat. Hampton’s term will expire at the end
of the year.