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Friday, November 19, 2004

Cause of odors at Depot still unknown

By AMYJO BROWN of the East Oregonian
ajbrown@eastoregonian.com


HERMISTON — The cause of strange odors reported on the Umatilla Chemical Depot in two separate incidents is still unknown, despite the work of “a whole host of people at the depot this week,” said Lt. Col. David Holliday, depot commander.

“We’re chasing an odor that might be transient, that might be seasonal,” Holliday reported Thursday at a monthly meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee, a watchdog group for depot activities.

CAC member Mark Bell said he still felt confused and uneasy about the incidents, even though he said he wasn’t sure what else depot officials could do to ease his worries.

“There is something unsettling about it,” he said. “I’ve smelled lots of odors, but I’m almost always pretty clear on what they are.”

Weapons disposal activities and chemical warfare stored in bunkers at the depot were ruled out early on as a cause for the possible smell workers reported having unusual reactions to on two separate occasions, in mid-October and early November.

The workers, in groups of two, reported runny noses and water eyes after detecting the smells, which the workers described differently for each event. The two incidents were several weeks apart and the locations were a mile apart. Weather patterns, however, were similar on each occasion with the wind coming from a southwest direction.

Holliday said the workers’ vehicles and their emissions have been ruled out as a cause.

Scientists from the state and the Army’s headquarters are still examining air samples taken from perimeter monitors, and are investigating whether agricultural products from nearby fields were involved.

A report on the incidents is expected in 30 days, Holliday said.

Michael Holcomb, a toxicologist with the state who attended the meeting, said he thought the conclusions were valid so far.

The workers’ reports of the smells caused concern locally after the four workers were tested for exposure to chemical agents. Although the results came back negative, an initial blood draw taken from one of the workers after the first incident showed a possibility of exposure.

Ironically, that blood draw was not supposed to be analyzed because the workers showed no signs of being exposed to chemical agent. It was inadvertently picked up the next day and sent to the lab rather than being destroyed, according to Steve Smith, contract medical director for the Washington Demilitarization Company.

The results of the blood draw and the reports of the incidents caused concern 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, although a judge ruled recently the Army was not at fault.