Depot begins VX spray tank disposal
The East Oregonian
The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility safely destroyed its first VX nerve agent spray tank Friday morning. The military designed the VX-filled spray tanks to mount on military aircraft. The depot is destroying these along with the VX M55 rockets in a campaign that began on Oct. 29.
Don Barclay, site project manager for the U.S. Army, said the VX campaign is going according to plan.
"Our team of dedicated workers is making steady progress in this first phase of VX disposal," he said.
The disposal plant is designed with multiple processing lines, allowing simultaneous processing of different types and sizes of munitions. Spray tanks are 15.5 feet long and contain 160 gallons of VX agent - significantly larger than other chemical munitions. Because of their size, workers transport the tanks on flatbed trailers from storage to the disposal plant in the sealed overpack containers in which they were stored.
Bob Dikeman, plant manager for URS Washington Division, the company that built and operates the plant, said workers readied for the challenges the tanks present.
"But we've practiced and planned for this portion of the VX campaign and, as always, safety and environmental compliance will come first," he said.
Depot storage crews started moving spray tanks to the disposal facility on Monday.
Workers also moved a bulk container, or "ton container," of VX agent to the plant the same day. It's the only ton container of VX located at Umatilla. It contains VX agent from a mid-1980s "punch and drain" campaign to eliminate leaking munitions stored at the depot. Workers plan to dispose of the ton container within the next week.
The overall VX disposal campaign is expected to take about a year and a half to complete. It will include VX rockets, spray tanks, artillery projectiles, land mines and the single-ton container. |
