LATEST NEWS
Thursday,
September 09, 2004
Supporters
celebrate burn start
By ANDREW BINION
of the East Oregonian
abinion@eastoregonian.com
HERMISTON — Both sides
of the debate over burning the cache of chemical weapons at the Umatilla
Chemical Depot turned out Wednesday at the Army’s outreach office in Hermiston
to mark the start of incineration.
Most of the 60 or so revelers nursed slices of sheet cake and rowdily
applauded when Lt. Col. David “Doc” Holliday, the commanding officer of the
depot, thanked Hermiston for its support.
“We’re going into the history books,” Holliday said. “It’s good to
be the first.”
Joking with the friendly crowd, Holliday reminded them that the depot
had seen four commanders come and go since construction on the incinerator
began, “But it took Doc Holliday to do it!”
The crowd laughed and began chanting, “Two more years,” referring
to the standard deployment for a depot commander.
Project Manager Don Barclay commended the workers at the plant, saying
they had directly helped improve public safety.
“There’s one less rocket that poses a threat to the public today,”
he said, referring to the lone rocket destroyed Wednesday.
But Karyn Jones, founder of GASP, a group of activists who have opposed
incineration for fear of emissions harmful to people and the environment,
disagreed.
“If these weapons really pose a threat they are legally, morally
responsible to enact an emergency contingency program,” Jones said, which
should include a more environmentally palatable method of disposing them.
But Jones said she was handling the setback gracefully, pointing
out supporters in the crowd she has known her whole life.
“It’s a very unique situation,” she said. “We can disagree but still
like each other.”
Jim Stearns, chief of the Hermiston Fire Department, said fire officials
hadn’t taken any special precautions for the start up of incineration.
“No more than any other day,” he said.
The vast majority of revelers supported the burn, which Hermiston
Mayor Bob Severson called a long time coming.
“We’re tickled to death, everybody in this room is,” he said, adding,
“Maybe not everybody.”