Hermiston Herald
August 6, 2002

Test burns go 'smoothly'

By Frank Lockwood
Staff writer

HERMISTON - The Army took what is being described as a successful "baby step" in its efforts to dispose of the chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Disposal Facility.
The Army began test burns last Tuesday. Project Manager Ron Garner, of Washington Demilitarization, called the long awaited, first day of shakedown a "baby step."

Washington Demiltarization's senior protocol officer, Rick Kelly, said, "I was at the pre-meeting Tuesday. People were exhilarated, as they were in anticipation of it (surrogate shakedown). It's been a very long affair and I'm glad we were able to start up because it lets the community know that we are one step closer to getting rid of these chemical weapons." Workers are using the shakedown to learn how to operate the equipment properly in a realistic setting, and to test the equipment. The event went "smoothly," Garner said, and operators "responded very professionally."

Workers first fed surrogate material into the furnace at 25 percent of what will become the "normal rate," then increased to 50 percent and finally, on Thursday, to 75 percent of the expected norm. They shut the furnace down as planned over the weekend. "Considerable" test data is being collected and analyzed, the Army reported.

On Monday, the plant was nearing the eight-consecutive-hours mark at 75 percent of the target rate. They must operate at 75 percent of the target rate for two consecutive, eight-hour days before proceeding to the so-called "mini burn."

The DEQ permit had been modified a few hours before startup in order to allow higher pressures in gas lines. The higher pressure was due, in part, to a change in some of the materials used the "scrubber" of the Pollution Abatement System, and in part due to slight miscalculations of kiln brick shrinkage. The higher pressures will not pose an operating problem the DEQ reported.

The surrogate materials are trichlorobenzene, a solvent sometimes used in drain and septic tank cleaners, and perchloroethylene, otherwise used as a dry cleaning solvent. These materials were chosen because they are said to be harder to dispose of than the chemical agent which is inside the weapons.

Army officials say surrogate testing should continue intermittently through the remainder of this year.