LATEST NEWS
Tuesday,
September 21, 2004
Court denies GASP
request
By AMYJO BROWN
of the East Oregonian
ajbrown@eastoregonian.com
HERMISTON — Judges at
the state Court of Appeals have refused to halt the incineration of chemical
weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot, denying a request for an injunction
filed by opponents of incineration last week.
In denying the motion, which asked the court to temporarily stop
the burning of M55 rockets containing chemical warfare agents, the panel
of three judges said they were not persuaded that the emissions would harm
pregnant women, breast-feeding infants and school children, as was alleged
in the request.
The judges also said they did not believe GASP and other petitioners
named on the motion were likely to prevail on their appeals of a five-year-old
lawsuit. In that lawsuit, GASP is seeking to stop incineration and replace
it with an alternative, allegedly safer method to be used to destroy the
weapons. The case, known as “GASP I,” is pending in the Court of Appeals.
Karyn Jones of GASP said this morning she had not yet read the court
ruling and declined to comment on the denial of the injunction.
In the meantime, 15 M55 rockets have been destroyed since the second
week of September — four so far this week.
More than 90,000 rockets, as well as thousands of other munitions
containing nerve and blister agents, are scheduled to be burned over the
next six years.
“We’re pleased that agent operations can continue,” said Dennis Murphey,
program administrator for the chemical demilitarization program for the Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality, one of the respondents to the motion
for an injunction.
GASP attorney Stuart Sugarman said he is still discussing with his
clients what options they have left to try and stop incineration, which they
contend will cause brain damage in young and sensitive populations living
near the depot. State and federal regulators for air quality deny that claim.