LATEST NEWS
Monday, April 11, 2005
Cause of Depot incident
unknown
By ANDREW BINION
the East Oregonian
abinion@eastoregonian.com
HERMISTON — An investigation
into why a rocket at the Umatilla Chemical Depot caught fire last Thursday
while being chopped up for incineration yielded no answers, Washington Group
Spokesman Rick Kelley said Monday.
Investigators finished their inquiry Sunday, said Kelley, who noted
the equipment in the area where the rocket caught fire worked properly.
Workers spent about 30 minutes masked, but there were no injuries
and incineration is expected to resume later today.
The fire occurred inside a room with reinforced walls built to withstand
fires and explosions, called the explosive containment room.
“If something is going to happen, we know it’s going to happen inside
that room,” Kelley said.
The room is where rockets are drained of sarin agent and chopped
into pieces, then dropped down a chute for incineration.
The fire occurred after the fifth of seven cuts into the rocket,
which was a cut through the motor section of the rocket, Kelley said. The
fire, which started at about 5:05 p.m. last Thursday, burned for about 12
minutes.
A total of 245 rockets had been destroyed the day of the fire.
The walls in the room are made from 30 inches of reinforced concrete
and are fitted with blast shields, said Depot spokeswoman Mary Binder.
“That is why this room is called the explosive containment room,”
she said.