Circuit Judge Michael Marcus wants to know that an incinerator in Umatilla, Ore., will employ "the best available technology" for weapons destruction and will have "no major adverse effect" on public health or the environment, according to his ruling.
At issue are hundreds of thousands of pounds of stored mustard agent, as much as a fifth of which may be laced with high levels of mercury.
Utah's Deseret Chemical Depot began burning its stockpile of mustard last year, but Craig Williams is hoping the Oregon ruling might be "a catalyst for trying to initiate a serious dialogue with the Army" about whether the methods being employed in Utah and planned in Oregon "are in the best interest of peoples' well-being and the environment."
Williams' Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group has long advocated the use of chemical neutralization - a process used to eliminate mustard stockpiles at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Army officials insist the incineration methods being employed in Utah and planned for Oregon are just as safe.
And the Army has the backing of Utah's environmental regulators when it comes to "clean mustard," which isn't contaminated with mercury. But the military hasn't yet made a convincing case for burning the dirty stuff.
State environmental regulators have stipulated the Utah Army base cannot burn any of an estimated 1,000 mercury-laced tons until it proves that it can adequately control the release of mercury into the air - a capability that wasn't built into the incinerator's original design.
Martin Gray, who monitors chemical demilitarization for the state Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste, said he expected Deseret to present a plan to filter mercury emissions from the incinerator's stack within the next year.
That plan is likely to be shared with incinerator operators in Oregon, who operate under different corporate management but share the Army'sˆÇ oversight and ownership.
"We share the lessons we've learned across the corporate levels," said Deseret spokeswoman Alaine Southworth.
But Williams sees the recent Oregon ruling as an opportunity to also share his view that the Army has been playing fast and loose with regulations, laws and the health of residents surrounding its incinerators. He believes the Oregon courts will ultimately shut down the Army's attempts to burn the mustard - and hopes that will give Utah regulators cause to stop burning here.
"There is no need to incinerate this material," Williams said. "Safer approaches exist and must be used if the state and the Army wish to live up to their responsibilities of protecting citizens."
Vanessa Pierce, of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, agreed, noting that discussions with members of Utah's congressional delegation this week seemed promising - especially at a time in which a new study has shown greater concentrations of mercury contamination in several state fisheries.
She said there is no guarantee that stack filters will catch all mercury emissions, "and I think the concerns raised in Oregon underscore the importance of our request that they at least consider the alternatives."
mlaplante@sltrib.com