Hermiston Herald
June 26, 2001

Most volatile, rockets to be first ones to go

By Frank Lockwood
Staff writer

HERMISTON - Hank Dubin, the acting deputy assistant secretary of the Army for chemical demilitarization, spoke at Thursday's meeting of the Oregon Chemical Demilitarization Citizens Advisory Commission (CAC).
Also speaking was Peter Lederman, chair of the National Research Council's Committee on Review & Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program.

the rockets, containing nerve gas, are destroyed, risk to the public "falls very dramatically," Dubin said. Eliminating rockets will reduce about 90 percent of the risk from stored chemical weapons, he said. The other remaining chemical weapons are less volatile and therefore pose less risk. Dubin said, "We are safety minded, but part of safety mindedness is timeliness."

Speaking for the NRC, Lederman noted that the 21 committee members were in Hermiston to observe and ask questions but not to offer advice. The group makes decisions by consensus and opinions are offered in the form of formal reports, rather than piecemeal suggestions from out in the field. Members are unpaid volunteers who normally rotate every three years, although some serve six years. The results of the present study are expected some time within the next ten months.

Lederman holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and has 45 years experience, including chemical engineering, environmental engineering, hazardous waste treatment, educational and corporate leadership. He remains Research Professor of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Policy at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

The committee of senior chemical engineers, biochemists, and other technical professionals do no modeling, primary research or cost estimating. Instead, they evaluate the work and research of others. In other business, Mark Scott, president of National Institute for Chemical Studies, introduced his work. NICS helps communities "deal with chemical risks" Scott said, and acts as a "bridge between those that create chemical risk and those that are affected by that risk." He's here, among other things, to help Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program promote sheltering in place. In studies of actual chemical emergencies, people directly in the path of chemical plumes were protected when they followed shelter-in-place methods, and when they
listened to and heeded the broadcasted warning messages.

Aside from the depot, industries store chemicals with the potential to create disasters. Modes of transportation - waterways, highways, and railroads - also present potential sources for chemical accidents. Prepared communities are safer than their unaware counterparts, he said.

Also mentioned, by DEQ, the incineration operations will not start in July 2002 as was anticipated: "We know that will not happen," said Wayne Thomas of DEQ. But Thomas praised the depot commander, Tom Woloszyn, for voluntarily closing off air vents and drains in the chemical weapons storage units in the area known as K-Block. Some citizens had feared that leaking chemicals could reach the outside environment through the vents and drains, which were "an open path" to the outdoors.

Prior to the changes, the Army experimented to check for humidity, air pressure, or temperature problems. Similar ventilation and drain changes might not be possible in other parts of the country, Woloszyn said, because of climactic differences. The changes were "very significant" and that Woloszyn should be commended for taking the actions, Thomas said.

[The Citizens Advisory Commission has two open positions due to resignations. They have received several applications. Inquiries may be sent to the Citizens Advisory Commission, P.O. Box 903, Hermiston, Ore., 97838. The telephone number is (541) 564-9309.]