LETTERS
Thursday, August 05, 2004
EO turns blind
eye to real risks at depot
OK, East Oregonian, you
have bought yourself the widely acclaimed state of the art Umatilla Chemical
Weapons Incinerator. To be fair you have had lots of help from the DEQ, EQC,
the Confederated Tribes, Umatilla County Commissioners, ex-Hermiston Major
Frank Harkenrider, and most local elected officials. My efforts to warn and
the efforts of GASP to seek an unbiased mediator through the courts have
not cost the supporters of incineration one day’s delay.
Local state regulators have approved more than 200 permit modifications
to allow the Army and its contractor absolute autonomy to construct what
is now heralded as the most advanced and mature chemical weapons incineration
process known to man.
Every attempt to establish safety constraints, protect local workers
and require that the Army honor its original construction permit have met
in defeat. Every attempt to allow an independent and unbiased presentation
of the safer and less dangerous process of neutralization has been denied.
The East Oregonian and local elected officials have continued to
ignore the growing warning signs of unsafe working conditions caused by the
inherent dangers of incineration. The Tri- City Herald has printed numerous
articles exposing the Army’s negligence and dishonesty, but how many East
Oregonians read the Herald?
The Army has been able to construct a controversial $2.4 billion
incinerator with blind support of state regulatory agencies, elected officials
and the press. Incineration was a done deal from the get-go. For instance,
when the Army violated its permit and failed to build the Dunnage incinerator,
the DEQ compliantly and illegally covered it up.
OK, East Oregonian, you have your fail-safe, proven, safety-first,
chemical weapons incinerator. Now you have no excuse.
Our every effort to warn and expose the inherent flaws of incineration
has fallen on deaf ears. Let the show begin and don’t blame GASP when the
reality of incineration; shut downs, agent releases, worker health and safety
controversy, and environmental contamination finally begin to show their
impact on our families and heritage.
We all want to rid our land of this terrible blight, but how can
you justify a legacy of forcing our own people to breathe the carcinogens
out of the incinerator stack?
Stuart Dick
Pendleton