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Depot destroys last GB
nerve agent rocket
By
the East Oregonian
<>Enhanced on-site container 187 carried the
last GB M55 rockets to the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility
Container Handling Building on Aug. 1. Contributed photo
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HERMISTON
- Workers at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility safely
destroyed the remaining 256 GB (sarin) nerve agent M55 rockets and
warheads Wednesday afternoon. The rockets were the last of 91,442 that
were originally stockpiled at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
Bruce Henrickson, spokesperson for the depot,
called the event "quite a milestone" for the depot and the surrounding
community.
Crews completed the final enhanced on-site
container (EONC) shipment of GB rockets from the depot storage area on
Aug. 1. Processing was put on hold, however, until repairs could be
made to a conveyor belt that became jammed on Saturday.
Work crews began processing the rockets again
early Wednesday morning. Then, at 1:17 p.m. Wednesday, the disposal
facility safely destroyed the last sarin-filled M55 rocket in the
Umatilla stockpile.
The facility processed its first rocket on
Sept. 8, 2004. With the GB rockets gone, plus completion of two GB bomb
campaigns earlier this year, public risk of continued storage of
chemical weapons at the depot has been reduced by more than 90 percent.
Lt. Col. Donna Rutten, Depot commander, said
she was proud of "Team Umatilla's" efforts during the past two years.
"The team's dedication to safety and our
complex mission remains high as we work to reduce storage risk to the
public," she said.
Don Barclay, Army site project manager, said
destroying these munitions was a team effort.
"This was a superb and spirited team effort,"
he said. "Our dedicated storage and disposal workforce overcame rocket
fires and many other technical challenges to safely reach this
milestone. We look forward to the next munitions campaign in this
continuous process."
That next campaign will deal with the
disposal of the last GB munitions - nearly 62,000 8-inch and 155-mm GB
projectiles.
Umatilla storage and disposal workers are
gearing up for the new campaign. A changeover of plant equipment and
procedures for 8-inch GB projectiles disposal will take about seven
weeks. All GB munitions should be destroyed by mid-2007, followed by VX
agent munitions changeover and disposal. VX-filled M55 rockets will be
the first munition to be destroyed in that campaign. After destruction
of all VX munitions, the depot will dispose of mustard agent stored in
bulk containers.
"We're fulfilling a commitment to get rid of
these weapons safely and in an environmentally responsible manner,"
Doug Hamrick, Washington Group International's project general manager
for the disposal facility, said.
Chemical munitions disposal at the plant is a
continuous process. Preparations for the changeover from GB rockets to
GB projectiles began as soon as the MC-1 750-pound GB bomb campaign was
completed in early June. The Munitions Processing Bay (MPB), which was
not used during rocket processing, was decontaminated to allow workers
to begin preparing the components needed for projectile processing. Now
that rocket processing is completed, changeover work also can proceed
in the facility's two Explosive Containment Rooms (ECRs).
While rockets are punched and drained, then
sheared into pieces for incineration, projectiles must be disassembled
during processing. Projectile processing utilizes all three types of
furnaces at the facility, while rocket processing involved only two
types of furnaces.
"There's much more mechanical equipment
associated with projectiles disposal than with rockets. Projectile
campaign challenges will be met by the project staff with the same
diligence and dedication we had during rocket destruction. Safe and
compliant destruction of the GB projectiles will now be the primary
focus of the project," Hamrick said.
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