East Oregonian
August 11, 2003

Depot lawsuit
Category: Local News
Last Modified: 1:43:05 AM on 8/12/03
Archived: 1:43:05 AM on 8/12/03
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Publication: East Oregonian
Publication Date: 8/11/03
Page and Section: 3 A
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Depot Lawsuit

PORTLAND -- A lawsuit aimed at blocking incineration of chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot goes to trial this week in Portland.

Incineration opponents led by GASP, a Hermiston-based group, have failed in two previous court attempts.

GASP was joined in the lawsuit by two statewide environmental groups and 22 individual petitioners. It seeks to force the state Department of Environmental Quality to revoke the Army's incineration permit.

The petitioners want to force the Army to destroy the chemical weapons stored near Hermiston -- which make up about 12 percent of the country's stockpile -- by alternative means, such as neutralization, a process that uses water to render the chemicals inert.

The Army contends that technology was not developed when construction of the Umatilla incinerator began.

Testing of incinerators at the Umatilla Chemical Depot is expected to be completed later this year, and the Army could begin burning agent by early fall if it receives approval from DEQ.

DEQ officials have said the Army as addressed all of its concerns and made the changes and improvements necessary to gain that OK. State rules are more stringent that federal regulations regarding incineration, according to DEQ.

The Army has until April 2012 to destroy its stockpile of chemical weapons, based on an international agreement. The Army operates an incinerator in Tooele, Utah, and started incineration last week at a plant in Alabama.