LATEST NEWS
Friday,
October 22, 2004
Depot commander
grilled
By AMYJO BROWN
of the East Oregonian
ajbrown@eastoregonian.com
HERMISTON — Residents,
emergency responders and a state regulator harshly criticized Umatilla Chemical
Depot Commander Lt. Col. David Holliday on Thursday night for not immediately
reporting an incident involving two security guards and their potential exposure
to an unknown toxin.
The guards, both male and civilian employees, experienced a strange
sulfuric odor, runny noses and a metallic taste in their mouths while on
a routine patrol Friday night near storage structures for sarin-filled chemical
weapons. Sarin is a colorless, odorless nerve agent.
Holliday was grilled for more than 90 minutes by the Citizens Advisory
Commission, which monitors Depot activities, and others attending a Thursday
night commission meeting.
During the session, Holliday said he was informed of the incident
30 minutes after the guards returned Friday, but did not inform local emergency
responders until Tuesday, four days later.
“There was no threat, no danger, not to the depot, not to the environment
and not to the off-post community,” he said.
But he admitted that the results of the first blood draw warranted
notification of the off-post community. He said he did not learn of those
results until Tuesday, which is when he did call local emergency responders.
Meeting-goers disagreed with Holliday’s decision to delay notification,
voicing concern lab results took too long to return and blasting Holliday
for not informing the off-post community when the first blood draw showed
possible exposure to chemical agent.
After the possible exposure, the commander authorized a blood draw
early Saturday morning, about 30 minutes after they returned to the on-site
medical clinic, he said. The results, examined Monday, showed a slight depression
in the chlolinesterase levels, an enzyme needed for proper functioning of
the nervous system and an indicator of toxic poisoning.
A second blood draw was taken Monday that showed normal CHE levels.
To confirm the second test, a urine sample was taken and sent to Aberdeen,
Md., the U.S. Army’s headquarters for its chemical demilitarization program.
Holliday is awaiting those test results, expected in a few days.
“I would have hated to be those workers, not knowing until Monday,”
commission Vice-Chairman Katherine O’Heara-Shaw said.
Holliday said blood draws can be analyzed on-site within four hours
and that he is going to conduct an internal investigation to determine why
he was told of the results so long after they were available.
“If it was important enough to take the blood sample, why was it
not important enough to run the sample in a timely manner,” questioned Dennis
Murphey, program administrator for the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality’s chemical demilitarization program.
Holliday admitted the results of the first blood draw warranted notification
of the off-post community. He said he did not learn of those results until
Tuesday, which is when he did call local emergency responders.
Holliday said he did not believe the guards were exposed to a chemical
agent and did not rush the results of two blood draws and a urine analysis.
Morrow County Judge Terry Tallman said the time lag for the testing
greatly worried him and created great doubt about whether the tests could
be conclusive.
“This conversation does not make me feel any safer,” Tallman said.
“In fact, it creates greater questions about what really happened.”
Holliday said perimeter monitors near the area and monitoring tests
done with the guards’ clothing returned negative results for chemical agent.
He said he also relied on both guards’ opinions and on two physicians’ opinions
that no chemical agent was involved.
The guards are back at work, he added, updating information provided
Thursday morning by other depot officials who said the guards were on sick
leave.
Holliday confirmed the guards took a few days off after the incident,
but they were previously scheduled.