DEQ SHUTS DOWN ROCKET PROCESSING  

Until the UMCDF can prove to DEQ that "thorough investigations have been completed and preventative and mitigating measures have been identified and implemented," work in the Deactivation Furnace System will not continue. The DEQ action means the depot must halt the chopping of rockets, but can continue to burn agent.

The fire at Umatilla started at 11:26 a.m., according to Mary Binder, public affairs officer for the U.S. Army.

The fire started at the fifth shear of the rocket, as did the previous two rocket fires on April 7 and April 23. The fire was in Explosive Containment Room A, where the April 23 fire occurred. Agent vapor was contained in the room and no one was exposed to any chemical agent.

The M55 rocket, as in the previous two incidents, had already been punched and drained of liquid GB sarin when the fire occurred.

Dennis Murphey, administrator for DEQ's Chemical Demilitarization Program, says the plant has taken steps to mitigate any further problems with what he called "low order explosions."

"Forensic experts have been brought in to evaluate the rocket pieces," Murphey said. "That investigation is still under way."

Murphey says rocket propellant samples will be sent to Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey for testing. Rocket propellant samples are also being sent from Anniston, Ala. and Pine Bluff, Ark.

According to Don Barclay, site project manager for the Army, tests are being finalized and could include repeating the type of stresses the rockets were under during the shear, the physical condition and chemical analysis of the propellent.

Murphey says the previous investigations into the fire were "very thorough."

"They tested the equipment setting to ensure it was working as designed," Murphey said. "It was working properly so now other things need to be looked into."

A preliminary review of the video that assists control room operators monitor operations in the ECR shows the fire was contained within seconds rather than minutes, as in the last two fires, due to recent modifications to the water deluge system.

"The modifications expand the water deluge system to cover a broader area," Binder said. "A sensor was reprogrammed to activate the system sooner."

Only one rocket was in the room at the time of the fire, Binder said. Since the last two fires, only one rocket has been processed at a time as a precaution.

Each time a fire has occurred, Washington Group International, the contractor for the incineration project at the Umatilla Chemical Depot (UMCD), stopped processing voluntarily. This has been the first time DEQ has stopped processing at the plant since agent operations began in September 2004.

Neither DEQ nor UMCDF have any idea when rockets processing will resume.