LATEST NEWS
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Army scientists
to investigate incidents at Depot
By AMYJO BROWN
of the East Oregonian
ajbrown@eastoregonian.com
HERMISTON — Scientists
from the U.S. Army’s Chemical Materials Agency headquarters are scheduled
to arrive next week at the Umatilla Chemical Depot to investigate workers’
reports of strange smells and unusual reactions to them.
According to spokeswoman Mary Binder, Depot officials still have
no explanation for what may have affected four employees in two separate
incidents occurring in mid-October and early November.
“We’re exploring all possibilities,” she said.
As of today, samples from all 13 perimeter monitors were sent to
the Depot’s headquarters in Maryland for analysis, Binder said.
The monitors had already been reviewed by Depot staff for any chemical
agent release and none was found, she said.
The CMA scientists arriving next week will also look at the site
for any causes of the smells the staff may have missed, Binder said.
Depot Commander Lt. Col. David Holliday is expected to report on
the incidents during the Nov. 18 meeting of the Chemical Demilitarization
Citizens Advisory Commission.
The two incidents were several weeks apart and the locations were
a mile apart.
The Depot workers, in groups of two, reported runny noses and watery
eyes after detecting strange smells, which the workers described differently
for each event.
The reports raised concerns locally and within the U.S. Army because
of their similarity to a 1999 Depot incident in which dozens of construction
workers mysteriously became ill. Neither the Army nor its oversight agencies
could determine the cause for that incident.
Following the most recent two incidents, the four workers were tested
for exposure to chemical agents, and final results all came back negative.
The incidents caught the attention of Carl Halgren, area director
of the federal Office of Safety and Health Administration.
But because OSHA is only called in after a fatality or hospitalization
of three or more employees, that agency isn’t investigating, he said, noting
he has not received any complaints about the incidents.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is satisfied with
the Depot’s response to the incidents, according to Dennis Murphey, administrator
for DEQ’s chemical demilitarization program.
The Depot has done a reasonable job in trying to determine whether
it was chemical agent that affected the workers, he said.
Although the state regulator and local emergency responders were
unhappy with the timing of test results and off-post notification after the
first incident, the Depot’s response to the second incident was quick and
reassuring.
“It was everything we would have expected,” Murphey said, adding
that officials might never know what affected the four workers..
Monitoring in the area where the two workers experienced the odor
returned negative results for chemical agent, industrial chemicals and other
possible causes.
The Depot, which stores chemical warfare, was not processing rockets
or destroying chemical agent during either of the events.
“The smells were described very differently,” Murphey said. “It’s
very possible the two episodes were totally unrelated.”