LATEST NEWS
Monday, December 13, 2004
Chemical
weapons destruction to resume by mid week
By AMYJO BROWN
of the East Oregonian
ajbrown@eastoregonian.com
HERMISTON — Destruction
of chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot is still on hold but is
expected to resume by mid week, according to Rick Kelley, spokesperson for
the Washington Demilitarization Company.
Washington Demilitarization operates the weapons’ disposal facility
for the U.S. Army.
Operations were halted after two employees entered a wrong door and
allowed traces of deadly sarin vapor to escape filter units earlier this
month.
Kelley said depot officials have completed an investigation into
why the incident occurred and a final report is circulating to depot officials.
Details were unavailable this morning, Kelley said.
The two unidentified workers, both male and wearing minimum protective
gear, were preparing to test a motor Dec. 1 in the heating and cooling system
for the plant, which operates separately from filtering units that clean
the furnaces.
The workers entered the wrong door and unclamped a working filter
unit instead of the one they intended to repair.
The employees were not exposed to the chemical agent and there was
no release into the atmosphere, depot officials said.
It is unknown yet if disciplinary action will be taken against the
workers, Kelley said.
The incident is the third operational error that has temporarily
suspended the destruction of chemical weapons since the Army began processing
in September.